HC Wainwright Reaffirms Buy Rating for Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND)

HC Wainwright reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright currently has a $157.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on LGND. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $132.83.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $110.04 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.81. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $51.21 and a twelve month high of $115.53. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.94 and a beta of 0.99.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.34. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 29.69% and a return on equity of 7.91%. The business had revenue of $41.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 57.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Todd C. Davis bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $97.39 per share, with a total value of $243,475.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 123,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,979,943.90. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, COO Matthew E. Korenberg sold 18,245 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total value of $1,797,132.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,734,248. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Todd C. Davis bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $97.39 per share, with a total value of $243,475.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 123,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,979,943.90. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 51,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,255,692. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.3% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,685 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 13.9% during the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 93,208 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,329,000 after buying an additional 4,439 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,349 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $535,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.0% during the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 312,879 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,316,000 after buying an additional 20,404 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.