Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Buys 2,755 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 56.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,650 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,755 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $820,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 119.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 406 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 661 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 758 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 49.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 904 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $172,000. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LGND has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 2,104 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.37, for a total value of $244,842.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,647 shares in the company, valued at $2,402,691.39. The trade was a 9.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

LGND opened at $115.41 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.98 and a beta of 1.04. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $67.72 and a fifty-two week high of $129.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $114.19 and its 200 day moving average is $111.45.

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.