Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Receives Buy Rating from HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reissued their buy rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $144.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Separately, Benchmark reiterated a buy rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $116.33.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.3 %

LGND opened at $84.26 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $80.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.15. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $49.24 and a twelve month high of $94.57. The stock has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30 and a beta of 1.01.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $3.01. The business had revenue of $30.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.92 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 79.30%. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Nancy Ryan Gray sold 934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.20, for a total transaction of $77,708.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,633 shares in the company, valued at $468,665.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total value of $446,818.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,026,024.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Nancy Ryan Gray sold 934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.20, for a total value of $77,708.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $468,665.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,882. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LGND. Burney Co. grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 13.4% during the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 3,524 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at about $14,367,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,992 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $951,000 after buying an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 21,701 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,580,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 45,032 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,292,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children.