Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 292,475 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,691 shares during the quarter. Ligand Pharmaceuticals comprises approximately 1.5% of Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned approximately 1.62% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $24,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 21.7% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 758 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $107,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Matthew E. Korenberg sold 1,157 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.54, for a total value of $122,109.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 67,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,093,448.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.39, for a total value of $159,585.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,392.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Matthew E. Korenberg sold 1,157 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.54, for a total transaction of $122,109.78. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 67,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,093,448.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,291 shares of company stock worth $3,281,620 over the last three months. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LGND shares. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $102.23 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $100.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.18. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $49.24 and a 52 week high of $112.13. The stock has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77 and a beta of 1.01.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.34. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 29.69% and a return on equity of 7.91%. The business had revenue of $41.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 57.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children.