Prudential Financial Inc. Purchases 1,360 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 102,995 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,360 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $11,036,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LGND. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,085,627 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $223,475,000 after acquiring an additional 115,005 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 707,414 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $70,805,000 after purchasing an additional 18,642 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 621,482 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $66,592,000 after buying an additional 17,444 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC increased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 551,588 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,103,000 after buying an additional 5,767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 428,270 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $42,874,000 after buying an additional 22,495 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LGND. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of LGND stock opened at $107.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a PE ratio of 42.88 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $114.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.00. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $67.72 and a 52 week high of $129.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total transaction of $575,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,171,651.37. This represents a 20.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals 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.