Insider Selling: Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Sells $544,830.00 in Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Stephen Sabba sold 2,145 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total transaction of $544,830.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 33,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,541,766. The trade was a 6.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $274.88 on Friday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $110.00 and a 1 year high of $276.20. 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 50 day moving average price of $231.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.81. The company has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.30, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.17.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 55.95%.The company had revenue of $51.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LGND. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,789,955,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $93,809,000 after acquiring an additional 266,304 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 676.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 254,805 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,136,000 after acquiring an additional 221,996 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 64.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 378,295 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $67,011,000 after acquiring an additional 148,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 385,028.9% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 146,349 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,670,000 after acquiring an additional 146,311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LGND. Bank of America started coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $244.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their target price 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.71.

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.