John L. Lamattina Sells 2,406 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director John L. Lamattina sold 2,406 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.65, for a total value of $297,501.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 29,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,649,529.75. This trade represents a 7.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.3 %

Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $119.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.78 and a beta of 1.01. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $58.97 and a 52 week high of $129.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $110.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.22.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LGND. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 708,624 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,707,000 after purchasing an additional 44,543 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in 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. raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 604,038 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $60,458,000 after buying an additional 17,414 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.0% in the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 545,821 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,631,000 after buying an additional 30,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 428,270 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $42,874,000 after purchasing an additional 22,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $157.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $144.83.

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.