Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by HC Wainwright

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by investment analysts at HC Wainwright in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $144.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 77.84% from the company’s previous close.

Separately, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.33.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 4.0 %

Shares of LGND stock traded up $3.15 on Thursday, reaching $80.97. The stock had a trading volume of 36,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 149,312. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $79.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.66 and a beta of 1.01. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $49.24 and a 12 month high of $94.57.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $3.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $3.01. The company had revenue of $30.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.92 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 79.30% and a return on equity of 8.52%. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.04, for a total value of $830,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 22,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,843,903.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.04, for a total transaction of $830,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 22,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,843,903.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,156 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total transaction of $446,818.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,026,024.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,403 shares of company stock worth $2,150,882 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LGND. Ashford Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $14,367,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 659,434 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,097,000 after purchasing an additional 191,870 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 59.1% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 325,727 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $23,263,000 after purchasing an additional 121,049 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $7,655,000. Finally, Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 14.6% in the first quarter. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC now owns 490,752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,874,000 after purchasing an additional 62,701 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.