Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Jason Haas Sells 6,461 Shares

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Jason Haas sold 6,461 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.58, for a total value of $1,651,302.38. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,273,043.98. This represents a 56.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of LGND stock opened at $253.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.17. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $110.00 and a twelve month high of $259.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $226.67 and a 200 day moving average of $207.09. 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 (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $51.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.10 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 55.95% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.71.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LGND. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,926 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $19,295,000 after buying an additional 2,860 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 16.6% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,915 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,653,000 after buying an additional 4,538 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 27.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 143,067 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,050,000 after buying an additional 31,081 shares during the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 26,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,961,000 after buying an additional 9,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 16.7% during the third quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 82,991 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,701,000 after buying an additional 11,858 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company 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.