Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $256.83 and last traded at $250.7320, with a volume of 19776 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $243.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LGND shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. 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. 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, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.71.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 3.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a current ratio of 21.28. The company has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $205.66.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted 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 during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 1,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.87, for a total transaction of $207,870.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 32,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,816,680.91. The trade was a 2.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Kozarich sold 1,575 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.50, for a total transaction of $352,012.50. Following the sale, the director owned 41,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,339,171. This trade represents a 3.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 18,968 shares of company stock worth $4,163,441 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 31.6% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 271 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.