Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Craig Hallum raised their price target on the stock from $135.00 to $140.00. Craig Hallum currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ligand Pharmaceuticals traded as high as $95.69 and last traded at $95.21, with a volume of 98122 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.71.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, June 28th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $144.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.25.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.04, for a total transaction of $830,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 22,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,843,903.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Nancy Ryan Gray sold 934 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.20, for a total value of $77,708.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $468,665.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 10,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.04, for a total transaction of $830,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,843,903.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,403 shares of company stock worth $2,150,882. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LGND. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,112 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,442,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. Burney Co. boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Burney Co. now owns 3,524 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Ashford Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $14,367,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,992 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $951,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 21,701 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,580,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $82.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.08. The company has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.63 and a beta of 1.01.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $3.01. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 79.30% and a return on equity of 8.52%. The business had revenue of $30.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.