Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $135.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on LGND. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Craig Hallum increased their target price 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. Benchmark lifted their price target 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. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $144.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $131.80.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.5 %

LGND stock opened at $104.78 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.57. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27 and a beta of 1.00. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $49.24 and a twelve month high of $112.13.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $41.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 57.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Todd C. Davis acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $97.39 per share, with a total value of $243,475.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,979,943.90. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.39, for a total transaction of $159,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,534 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,397,392.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Todd C. Davis bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $97.39 per share, for a total transaction of $243,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 123,010 shares in the company, valued at $11,979,943.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 51,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,255,692. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,876,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $134,021,000 after purchasing an additional 24,653 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth about $809,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 224.1% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 35,841 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,620,000 after acquiring an additional 24,784 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 155.3% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 73,161 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,348,000 after acquiring an additional 44,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.2% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 202,842 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,091,000 after acquiring an additional 13,595 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.