Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $257.7143.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LGND shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $244.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 1,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.50, for a total transaction of $352,012.50. Following the sale, the director owned 41,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,339,171. The trade was a 3.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.31, for a total transaction of $1,156,550.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,382 shares in the company, valued at $9,572,070.42. The trade was a 10.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 37,949 shares of company stock worth $8,014,056. Insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LGND. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 25.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,120 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $344,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 8.2% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,660 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,121,000 after buying an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 9.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 55,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,817,000 after buying an additional 4,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 176.2% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 36,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,882,000 after buying an additional 23,553 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of LGND opened at $229.33 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $215.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $203.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.12, a PEG ratio of 1.86 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 has a 1-year low of $98.89 and a 1-year high of $247.38.

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

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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.