RFG Advisory LLC Acquires New Position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

RFG Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,544 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $508,000.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 2,145 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total value of $544,830.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 33,629 shares in the company, valued at $8,541,766. This represents a 6.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.06, for a total transaction of $1,135,300.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,396,196.92. This trade represents a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 36,165 shares of company stock valued at $8,553,493. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup increased 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. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $244.00 target price for the company. Finally, 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.71.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of LGND opened at $314.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.18. The firm has a market cap of $6.29 billion, a PE ratio of 42.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.17. 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 Incorporated has a 1-year low of $111.71 and a 1-year high of $314.80.

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

Ligand Pharmaceuticals 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.