Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND Stock Acquired by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 65.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LGND. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 256.6% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 22,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,207,000 after purchasing an additional 16,406 shares in the last quarter. Future Fund LLC increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Future Fund LLC now owns 13,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,763,000 after purchasing an additional 4,560 shares during the last quarter. JW Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,264,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $690,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 31.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 157,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,518,000 after buying an additional 37,696 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In related news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.07, for a total transaction of $1,520,350.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,854 shares in the company, valued at $9,685,845.78. This trade represents a 13.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Martine Zimmermann sold 1,200 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.00, for a total value of $342,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,897 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,645. This trade represents a 23.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 52,090 shares of company stock worth $15,300,108 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ LGND opened at $313.52 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $297.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.48. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $175.89 and a 12-month high of $326.63. The firm has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.96, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 30.96, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.34. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 5.22% and a net margin of 20.27%. The firm had revenue of $78.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.09 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 31.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on LGND shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $397.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $345.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $330.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $358.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $339.22.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND) is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, acquires and licenses technologies intended to improve the development and commercialization of medicines. Rather than operating primarily as a traditional drug manufacturer, Ligand generally works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners, receiving licensing payments, royalties and other consideration tied to partnered products.

The company’s principal technology is Captisol, a modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain active pharmaceutical ingredients.