Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $669,000 Holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,368 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 190 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LGND. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 59.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 325,727 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $23,263,000 after acquiring an additional 121,049 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 43.0% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 136,229 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,163,000 after acquiring an additional 40,958 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 15.7% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 184,320 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $11,044,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 157.3% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 40,254 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,412,000 after acquiring an additional 24,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP now owns 83,121 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,937,000 after acquiring an additional 21,272 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.2 %

Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $70.46 on Tuesday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $49.24 and a 1-year high of $94.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.62 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $74.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.19.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.55. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 37.80% and a return on equity of 11.98%. The firm had revenue of $28.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.54 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 3.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 1,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.30, for a total transaction of $140,649.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,149,201.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 10.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LGND has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.33.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals 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.