Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) had its target price raised by Roth Capital from $120.00 to $135.00 in a report released on Tuesday. They currently have a buy rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.
Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note on Monday, May 15th. BidaskClub lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank AG restated a hold rating and set a $103.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Finally, ValuEngine upgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, June 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $132.47.
Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ LGND) traded down 1.4888% during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $127.0499. The company had a trading volume of 406,882 shares. The company’s market capitalization is $2.67 billion. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $87.50 and a 52-week high of $128.92. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $120.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.98.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.40 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 7.39% and a return on equity of 5.18%. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 43.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post $2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
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In related news, insider Matthew W. Foehr sold 5,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.20, for a total value of $630,676.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 98,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,033,860.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John L. Higgins sold 4,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $559,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,260,440. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 59,534 shares of company stock worth $6,694,514. 14.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LGND. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 166,566.2% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,614,993 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $276,770,000 after buying an additional 2,613,424 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 42.3% in the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,728,178 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $182,910,000 after buying an additional 513,531 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,500,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 38.2% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 372,465 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,217,000 after buying an additional 102,892 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth approximately $10,702,000.
About Ligand Pharmaceuticals
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Ligand) is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on developing and acquiring technologies that help pharmaceutical companies discover and develop medicines. The Company is involved in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets. The Company employs research technologies, such as nuclear receptor assays, high throughput computer screening, formulation science, liver targeted pro-drug technologies and antibody discovery technologies to assist companies in their work toward obtaining prescription drug approvals.
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