Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup began coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $387.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on LGND. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $262.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 3.9%

Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $305.47 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 21.28 and a quick ratio of 20.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.45, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.10. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $129.55 and a 1-year high of $326.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $266.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $226.35.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 4.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jason Aryeh sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $1,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 102,580 shares in the company, valued at $25,645,000. This trade represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 2,145 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total value of $544,830.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 33,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,541,766. This trade represents a 6.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,698 shares of company stock valued at $9,019,252. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $52,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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.