Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 3,421 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 126,571 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 3,421 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.66% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $13,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $32,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 825.4% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 546 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 68.5% in the first 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $116,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 46,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,807,000. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.00, for a total transaction of $104,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 32,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,421,912. This represents a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,934 shares of company stock worth $335,060. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of LGND opened at $139.10 on Monday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $90.29 and a fifty-two week high of $139.71. The firm has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.54 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $112.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.04.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.