Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $314.80 and last traded at $314.04, with a volume of 539300 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $303.59.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on LGND. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $244.00 target price for the company. 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 research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.71.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

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 company has a market cap of $6.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $240.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.18.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jason Aryeh sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $1,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 102,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,645,000. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jason Haas sold 6,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.58, for a total transaction of $1,651,302.38. Following the sale, the director directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,165 shares of company stock valued at $8,553,493. 7.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LGND. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in 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. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.