Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Jason Aryeh Sells 700 Shares of Company Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Jason Aryeh sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.43, for a total transaction of $224,301.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 108,758 shares in the company, valued at $34,849,325.94. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Jason Aryeh also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, October 30th, Jason Aryeh sold 1,411 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.24, for a total value of $451,858.64.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LGND opened at $313.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.96, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 30.96. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $175.89 and a 12 month high of $326.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $297.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $253.48.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.34. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 5.22% and a net margin of 20.27%. The firm had revenue of $78.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.00 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.09 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 31.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LGND. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $345.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $358.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $326.00 price objective (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $339.22.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LGND. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 681 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Cim Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% during the first quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,484 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 1,002 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND) is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, acquires and licenses technologies intended to improve the development and commercialization of medicines. Rather than operating primarily as a traditional drug manufacturer, Ligand generally works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners, receiving licensing payments, royalties and other consideration tied to partnered products.

The company’s principal technology is Captisol, a modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain active pharmaceutical ingredients.