John Kozarich Sells 467 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director John Kozarich sold 467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.80, for a total transaction of $108,250.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 41,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,685,994.80. This represents a 1.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of LGND stock opened at $213.21 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $201.85. The company has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of 28.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.20. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $98.89 and a 52 week high of $247.38. The company has a current ratio of 21.28, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $51.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.10 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 55.95% and a return on equity of 16.19%. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LGND. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 25.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,120 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $344,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,660 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,121,000 after buying an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 55,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,817,000 after buying an additional 4,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 176.2% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 36,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,882,000 after buying an additional 23,553 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LGND shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $244.00 price objective for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.71.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that acquires, develops and out-licenses proprietary technologies designed to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies discover and develop novel medicines. Operating primarily through its research services and royalty-generating businesses, Ligand focuses on building a diversified portfolio of technology platforms and partnering with industry leaders to advance therapeutic candidates across multiple disease areas.

The company’s product offerings center around several core platforms.