Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) CEO Purchases $1,000,452.00 in Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) CEO Todd C. Davis purchased 9,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $105.20 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,452.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 161,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,961,816.80. This trade represents a 6.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $103.47 on Friday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $77.43 and a twelve month high of $129.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.22 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.25.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.10. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 4.95% and a net margin of 29.68%. The business had revenue of $45.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LGND. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,652,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,085,627 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $223,475,000 after purchasing an additional 115,005 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 95.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 185,402 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $19,866,000 after acquiring an additional 90,743 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 70.0% during the 4th quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 162,771 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,441,000 after acquiring an additional 67,033 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 17,612.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 62,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,555,000 after acquiring an additional 61,996 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on LGND shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $143.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.14.

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.