Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND Shares Purchased by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 111,543 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,747 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.56% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $22,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $344,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 8.2% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,660 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,121,000 after buying an additional 809 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 55,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,817,000 after acquiring an additional 4,926 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 176.2% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 36,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,882,000 after purchasing an additional 23,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 13.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,858 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $26,130,000 after acquiring an additional 27,030 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LGND. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $262.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $326.00 price target (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. Seven 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $326.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.6%

LGND stock opened at $302.57 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $283.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 21.28 and a quick ratio of 20.95. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $132.21 and a fifty-two week high of $326.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Lamattina sold 4,591 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.88, for a total transaction of $1,151,790.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 26,969 shares in the company, valued at $6,765,982.72. The trade was a 14.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jason Haas sold 6,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.58, for a total transaction of $1,651,302.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,981 shares in the company, valued at $1,273,043.98. This represents a 56.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 35,231 shares of company stock valued at $9,199,401 in the last ninety days. 5.60% of the stock is currently 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.