Brokerages Set Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Target Price at $292.86

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $304.00.

LGND has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $262.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings cut Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.3%

Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $303.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.17, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a current ratio of 21.28. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $129.55 and a fifty-two week high of $326.63. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $263.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $224.59.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.21). Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 55.95%.The business had revenue of $51.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.28, for a total transaction of $1,566,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,505.92. This represents a 10.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John L. Lamattina sold 4,591 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.88, for a total transaction of $1,151,790.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 26,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,765,982.72. This represents a 14.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 35,698 shares of company stock valued at $9,019,252 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 22.5% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 10,358 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,274,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Balefire LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $330,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 681 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,840,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that acquires, develops and out-licenses proprietary technologies designed to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies discover and develop novel medicines. Operating primarily through its research services and royalty-generating businesses, Ligand focuses on building a diversified portfolio of technology platforms and partnering with industry leaders to advance therapeutic candidates across multiple disease areas.

The company’s product offerings center around several core platforms.