BTC Capital Management Inc. Takes $337,000 Position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

BTC Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,605 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $337,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LGND. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 36,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,163,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 157,187 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,419,000 after purchasing an additional 2,761 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 57.9% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,567 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 43.0% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 136,229 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,163,000 after purchasing an additional 40,958 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 57,127 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,628 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $144.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.33.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $79.39 on Friday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $49.24 and a 12 month high of $94.57. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.43.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $3.01. The firm had revenue of $30.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.92 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 79.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. Analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total value of $446,818.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 23,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,026,024.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,156 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total transaction of $446,818.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,026,024.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.04, for a total value of $830,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,205 shares in the company, valued at $1,843,903.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,403 shares of company stock worth $2,150,882. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children.