Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Price Target Raised to $110.00

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) had its target price boosted by Benchmark from $95.00 to $110.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. HC Wainwright reiterated a buy rating and issued a $144.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Craig Hallum lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $131.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

LGND stock opened at $101.02 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $91.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.14. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $49.24 and a one year high of $112.13.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $41.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.04 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 79.30% and a return on equity of 8.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 57.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, COO Matthew E. Korenberg sold 18,245 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total value of $1,797,132.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 68,368 shares in the company, valued at $6,734,248. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, COO Matthew E. Korenberg sold 18,245 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total value of $1,797,132.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 68,368 shares in the company, valued at $6,734,248. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total transaction of $446,818.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 23,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,026,024.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 758 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 4,708 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 14,344 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 32,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,390,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,112 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,442,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.