Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,124 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 686 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $6,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,876,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $134,021,000 after acquiring an additional 24,653 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 46,906 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $47,097,000 after buying an additional 191,870 shares in the last quarter. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $35,874,000 after buying an additional 62,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 59.1% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 325,727 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $23,263,000 after buying an additional 121,049 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.04, for a total value of $830,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,843,903.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.04, for a total value of $830,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,843,903.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,026,024.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,882 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.9 %

LGND traded up $0.76 on Friday, hitting $83.46. 10,952 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 149,287. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $49.24 and a twelve month high of $94.57. The company has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $81.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.49.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LGND. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $144.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, June 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.33.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals 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.