Ligand Pharmaceuticals’ (LGND) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $95.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Separately, HC Wainwright reiterated a buy rating and issued a $144.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $116.33.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LGND opened at $84.85 on Friday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $49.24 and a 1-year high of $94.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $80.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.27.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $3.01. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 79.30% and a return on equity of 8.52%. The business had revenue of $30.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,156 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total value of $446,818.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,379 shares in the company, valued at $2,026,024.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Nancy Ryan Gray sold 934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.20, for a total value of $77,708.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $468,665.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,156 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total value of $446,818.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 23,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,026,024.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,403 shares of company stock worth $2,150,882. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,884,112 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $137,729,000 after acquiring an additional 7,598 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 661,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,230,000 after purchasing an additional 46,906 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 659,434 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,097,000 after purchasing an additional 191,870 shares in the last quarter. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 14.6% in the first quarter. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC now owns 490,752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,874,000 after purchasing an additional 62,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 59.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 325,727 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $23,263,000 after purchasing an additional 121,049 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.