Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Hits New 52-Week High at $108.93

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $108.93 and last traded at $108.75, with a volume of 136930 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $107.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, June 28th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Craig Hallum raised their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.33.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $87.74 and a 200 day moving average of $79.57. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.03 and a beta of 1.01.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Matthew E. Korenberg sold 3,440 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.54, for a total value of $290,817.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 100,421 shares in the company, valued at $8,489,591.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Matthew E. Korenberg sold 3,440 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.54, for a total transaction of $290,817.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,489,591.34. 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 stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,403 shares of company stock worth $2,150,882. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ashford Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $14,367,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 659,434 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,097,000 after acquiring an additional 191,870 shares in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $11,350,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $7,655,000. Finally, Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 14.6% in the first quarter. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC now owns 490,752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,874,000 after purchasing an additional 62,701 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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.