6,045 Shares in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND Acquired by Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 6,045 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,337,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LGND. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 17,050.0% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 343 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1,040.0% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 342 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of LGND opened at $302.57 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $283.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.14. 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 Incorporated has a 1 year low of $132.21 and a 1 year high of $326.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a PE ratio of 41.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.13.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.21). Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 55.95% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The business had revenue of $51.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LGND has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $387.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $262.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.06, for a total value of $1,135,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,382 shares in the company, valued at $9,396,196.92. The trade was a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 2,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $8,541,766. This represents a 6.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 35,231 shares of company stock worth $9,199,401 over the last three months. 5.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.