Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $534,000 Holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 6.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,079 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 334 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 825.4% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 546 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 68.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 593 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza purchased 1,500 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $104.06 per share, for a total transaction of $156,090.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,906,603.92. This trade represents a 5.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 500 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.08, for a total value of $57,040.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 31,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,639,494.24. This represents a 1.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,934 shares of company stock worth $335,060. Insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $143.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.17.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 4.3%

NASDAQ LGND opened at $129.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.21 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day moving average is $110.71 and its 200-day moving average is $110.56. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $90.29 and a 12-month high of $130.94.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $45.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.84 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 7.83% and a negative net margin of 73.07%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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.