Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Jason Aryeh Sells 1,411 Shares of Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Jason Aryeh sold 1,411 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.24, for a total value of $451,858.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 109,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,052,829.92. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Jason Aryeh also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 2nd, Jason Aryeh sold 700 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.43, for a total value of $224,301.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LGND opened at $313.52 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 30.96 and a current ratio of 1.22. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $175.89 and a fifty-two week high of $326.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.48. The company has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of 139.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.34. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 5.22%. The firm had revenue of $78.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.09 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $326.00 target price (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $397.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $339.22.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,009,891 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $201,623,000 after buying an additional 14,491 shares during the period. Ranger Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $81,424,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 283,567 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,614,000 after buying an additional 3,940 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $41,429,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 31.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 157,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,518,000 after buying an additional 37,696 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.