Insider Selling: Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Sells $352,012.50 in Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director John Kozarich sold 1,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.50, for a total transaction of $352,012.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 41,786 shares in the company, valued at $9,339,171. This trade represents a 3.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of LGND stock opened at $213.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.93, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.20. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $98.89 and a fifty-two week high of $247.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a current ratio of 21.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $201.85.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.84 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $51.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.10 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 55.95% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The business’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 107.6% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 6,227 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,243,000 after purchasing an additional 3,228 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 283,567 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,614,000 after buying an additional 3,940 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 28.6% in the first quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 18,651 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,724,000 after acquiring an additional 4,143 shares during the period. Gibbs Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 66.2% in the 1st quarter. Gibbs Wealth Management now owns 5,563 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,215 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 62.2% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 75,188 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,012,000 after buying an additional 28,820 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on LGND shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.