Insider Selling: Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Sells $102,816.00 in Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director John Kozarich sold 459 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 41,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,360,064. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $213.21 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $201.85. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $98.89 and a fifty-two week high of $247.38. 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 $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LGND. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 85.8% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 210 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LGND has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright increased 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. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup increased 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.71.

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.