Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) had its target price lifted by analysts at Barclays from $125.00 to $150.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 24.95% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on LGND. Benchmark lifted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $157.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:LGND traded down $9.85 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $120.05. The stock had a trading volume of 133,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 135,890. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.58 and a beta of 0.99. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $51.21 and a 1-year high of $129.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.85.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.34. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 7.91% and a net margin of 29.69%. The company had revenue of $41.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.04 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 57.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, COO Matthew E. Korenberg sold 9,772 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.22, for a total transaction of $989,121.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 50,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,139,647.94. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, COO Matthew E. Korenberg sold 9,772 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.22, for a total transaction of $989,121.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 50,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,139,647.94. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $105.54, for a total transaction of $122,109.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 67,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,093,448.94. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,368 shares of company stock valued at $3,458,560 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LGND. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $809,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 224.1% in the first 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 last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 155.3% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 73,161 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,348,000 after purchasing an additional 44,499 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 16.6% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 115,480 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $11,558,000 after purchasing an additional 16,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 202,842 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,091,000 after buying an additional 13,595 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.