Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Rating Reiterated by HC Wainwright

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $144.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 57.02% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, June 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.25.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 5.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LGND opened at $91.71 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $82.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.94. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $49.24 and a twelve month high of $94.57. The company has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74 and a beta of 1.01.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $3.01. The firm had revenue of $30.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.92 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 79.30% and a return on equity of 8.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,156 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total transaction of $446,818.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,379 shares in the company, valued at $2,026,024.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.04, for a total transaction of $830,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 22,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,843,903.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 23,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,026,024.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,403 shares of company stock worth $2,150,882 in the last three months. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $107,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 356.2% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,012 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 1,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&R Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $146,000. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

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.