John Kozarich Sells 459 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director John Kozarich sold 459 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.00, for a total transaction of $102,816.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 41,786 shares in the company, valued at $9,360,064. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.6%

Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $213.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $201.85. The company has a current ratio of 21.28, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $98.89 and a 1-year high of $247.38.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $51.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.10 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 55.95% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LGND. HC Wainwright raised their price target 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. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $244.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.71.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $2,789,955,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 749,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,232,000 after acquiring an additional 22,629 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 59.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 541,845 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $95,982,000 after acquiring an additional 202,103 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 516,464 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $97,648,000 after acquiring an additional 138,169 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $93,809,000 after acquiring an additional 266,304 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.