Andrew Reardon Sells 5,000 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.28, for a total transaction of $1,566,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,505.92. The trade was a 10.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Andrew Reardon also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, June 1st, Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.06, for a total transaction of $1,135,300.00.
• On Friday, May 1st, Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.31, for a total transaction of $1,156,550.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:LGND opened at $319.43 on Wednesday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $114.00 and a one year high of $323.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a current ratio of 21.28. The firm has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.34, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $251.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $218.60.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.21). Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 55.95% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The company had revenue of $51.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.10 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 27.8% in the 4th 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 lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% in the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 26,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,961,000 after acquiring an additional 9,944 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 16.7% in the third quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 82,991 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,701,000 after acquiring an additional 11,858 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 130,858 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,741,000 after purchasing an additional 21,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $93,809,000 after purchasing an additional 266,304 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LGND. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $244.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.71.

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.