Granite Investment Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Granite Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 54,155 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 3,771 shares during the quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC owned 0.27% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $10,812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $2,789,955,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 749,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,232,000 after purchasing an additional 22,629 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 516,464 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $97,648,000 after purchasing an additional 138,169 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% in 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. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 493,589 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $93,336,000 after purchasing an additional 19,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.4%

LGND opened at $314.88 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $252.48 and a 200 day moving average of $219.42. The company has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of 42.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.10. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $116.44 and a 12 month high of $326.63. 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 issued its 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). The business had revenue of $51.72 million for 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 company’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $244.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 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 note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $272.29.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Jason Aryeh sold 4,500 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 102,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,645,000. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 2,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total value of $544,830.00. Following the sale, the director owned 33,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,541,766. This represents a 6.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 35,698 shares of company stock worth $9,019,252 in the last 90 days. 7.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals 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.