Andrew Reardon Sells 1,500 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) insider Andrew Reardon sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.39, for a total transaction of $159,585.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 22,534 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,392.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.1 %

LGND traded down $0.06 on Friday, reaching $105.80. The company had a trading volume of 113,893 shares, compared to its average volume of 146,095. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $49.24 and a 1 year high of $112.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $97.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.38.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $41.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.04 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 79.30% and a return on equity of 8.52%. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 57.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LGND. Chicago Capital LLC increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 124.3% in the second quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 514,946 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,389,000 after purchasing an additional 285,350 shares during the period. Ashford Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at $14,367,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 659,434 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,097,000 after acquiring an additional 191,870 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $11,350,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $7,655,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.