Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Sells $1,151,790.08 in Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director John Lamattina sold 4,591 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.88, for a total value of $1,151,790.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 26,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,765,982.72. The trade was a 14.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LGND opened at $255.54 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 20.95, a current ratio of 21.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $110.00 and a fifty-two week high of $259.03. The stock has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of 34.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $225.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.74.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $59.10 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 55.95% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. Analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,789,955,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,009,891 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $201,623,000 after acquiring an additional 14,491 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 749,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,232,000 after acquiring an additional 22,629 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 516,464 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $97,648,000 after acquiring an additional 138,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $93,809,000 after purchasing an additional 266,304 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on LGND. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on 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 downgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from 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.