Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Sells $90,237.18 in Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Jason Aryeh sold 282 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.99, for a total transaction of $90,237.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 108,476 shares in the company, valued at $34,711,235.24. This represents a 0.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Jason Aryeh also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 2nd, Jason Aryeh sold 700 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.43, for a total transaction of $224,301.00.
• On Friday, October 30th, Jason Aryeh sold 1,411 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.24, for a total value of $451,858.64.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $306.20 on Monday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $175.89 and a 1-year high of $326.63. The company has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a PE ratio of 136.70, a P/E/G ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The business has a 50-day moving average of $298.82 and a 200-day moving average of $255.16.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $78.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.00 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 5.22% and a net margin of 20.27%. The company’s revenue was down 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,359,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 256.6% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 22,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,207,000 after purchasing an additional 16,406 shares during the last quarter. Future Fund LLC boosted its stake in 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 period. JW Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,264,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $690,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LGND has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays initiated coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $345.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partners began coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $330.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $345.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $358.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $354.75.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals