Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (LGND) Director Jason Aryeh Sells 2,000 Shares

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Jason Aryeh sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.99, for a total transaction of $255,980.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 59,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,631,403.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ LGND) traded down 2.20% during trading on Friday, hitting $124.05. 192,653 shares of the stock traded hands. The company has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 302.56 and a beta of 0.96. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $87.50 and a 52 week high of $129.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $122.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.41.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.42. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 5.05% and a net margin of 7.39%. The company had revenue of $28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 43.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post $2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

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Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LGND. Tyers Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% in the first quarter. Tyers Asset Management LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 43.2% in the first quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,197 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. Flinton Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% in the first quarter. Flinton Capital Management LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Strs Ohio boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 225.0% in the second quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, First Mercantile Trust Co. boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the second quarter. First Mercantile Trust Co. now owns 1,310 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period.

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. BidaskClub upgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 23rd. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $137.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank AG boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $120.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $133.71.

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.