Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) COO Sells $653,227.50 in Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) COO Matthew E. Korenberg sold 6,275 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.10, for a total value of $653,227.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 50,777 shares in the company, valued at $5,285,885.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LGND opened at $98.78 on Thursday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $49.24 and a 52 week high of $112.13. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.11 and a beta of 1.01.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.34. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 29.69% and a return on equity of 7.91%. The firm had revenue of $41.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 57.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Craig Hallum lifted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $144.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.00.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LGND. Chicago Capital LLC grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 124.3% in the second quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 514,946 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,389,000 after purchasing an additional 285,350 shares during the last quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $14,367,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 659,434 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,097,000 after acquiring an additional 191,870 shares in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,350,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,655,000. Institutional investors 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.