Insider Selling: Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) CFO Sells 1,275 Shares of Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.94, for a total transaction of $132,523.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 24,610 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,963.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ LGND opened at $99.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22 and a beta of 1.01. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $49.24 and a twelve month high of $112.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.13.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 90,056 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,588,000 after acquiring an additional 14,210 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,761 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $667,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 10.9% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 37,247 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,138,000 after acquiring an additional 3,649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $266,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LGND. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Benchmark increased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Craig Hallum boosted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.00.

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.