Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup began coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) in a research note issued on Tuesday. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $387.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 29.53% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on LGND. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $262.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LGND traded up $4.78 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $298.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 277,460. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $129.55 and a fifty-two week high of $326.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $265.19 and its 200-day moving average is $225.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 21.28 and a quick ratio of 20.95. The firm has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.10.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.21). Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 55.95%.The business had revenue of $51.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director John L. Lamattina sold 4,591 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.88, for a total transaction of $1,151,790.08. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,969 shares in the company, valued at $6,765,982.72. This trade represents a 14.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jason Haas sold 6,461 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.58, for a total value of $1,651,302.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,273,043.98. This represents a 56.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,698 shares of company stock worth $9,019,252. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LGND. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.