Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

LGND has been the subject of several other research reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LGND opened at $108.03 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $114.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.75. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $67.72 and a twelve month high of $129.90. The company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.04 and a beta of 1.12.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total value of $575,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,171,651.37. This represents a 20.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LGND. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 7,193 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 758 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,297 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 4,034 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.