Legato Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Legato Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 61.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,944 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 271 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 17,050.0% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 343 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LGND has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings cut Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen cut Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $244.00 target price for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.71.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 3.2%

LGND opened at $229.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.12, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 21.28, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $98.89 and a 12 month high of $247.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $215.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.85.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.84 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $51.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.10 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 55.95%.The company’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 13,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.83, for a total value of $2,762,856.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,458,689.46. The trade was a 38.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.35, for a total value of $1,031,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,607,918.15. The trade was a 11.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 37,949 shares of company stock valued at $8,014,056. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that acquires, develops and out-licenses proprietary technologies designed to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies discover and develop novel medicines. Operating primarily through its research services and royalty-generating businesses, Ligand focuses on building a diversified portfolio of technology platforms and partnering with industry leaders to advance therapeutic candidates across multiple disease areas.

The company’s product offerings center around several core platforms.