Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $337.89 According to Analysts

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $337.89.

Several research firms have commented on LGND. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $326.00 target price (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $397.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Barclays began coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, September 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $345.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings raised Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $330.00 price target on the stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $317.33 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $295.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $251.72. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $175.89 and a fifty-two week high of $326.63. The company has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 30.96 and a current ratio of 31.18.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.34. The firm 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 20.06% and a net margin of 67.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.09 EPS. Analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 31,641 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.06, for a total value of $9,241,070.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,088,893.76. The trade was a 53.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Martine Zimmermann sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.00, for a total transaction of $342,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,645. This represents a 23.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 54,979 shares of company stock valued at $16,068,898 in the last quarter. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. XML Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $225,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $318,000. Profund Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 191.0% in the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 6,253 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,953,000 after buying an additional 4,104 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 65.1% in the 3rd quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 7,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,218,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND) is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, acquires and licenses technologies intended to improve the development and commercialization of medicines. Rather than operating primarily as a traditional drug manufacturer, Ligand generally works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners, receiving licensing payments, royalties and other consideration tied to partnered products.

The company’s principal technology is Captisol, a modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain active pharmaceutical ingredients.