Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $147.00.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LGND shares. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $116.00 on Friday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $67.72 and a 12 month high of $129.90. The company has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.22 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $114.23 and its 200-day moving average is $111.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total transaction of $575,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,171,651.37. The trade was a 20.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,085,627 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $223,475,000 after acquiring an additional 115,005 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,015,023 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $108,757,000 after buying an additional 5,929 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 723,019 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $77,470,000 after acquiring an additional 16,003 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 707,414 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $70,805,000 after acquiring an additional 18,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 621,482 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $66,592,000 after purchasing an additional 17,444 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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.