Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on LGND. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 4.8 %

NASDAQ LGND traded down $5.53 on Monday, hitting $109.30. 130,643 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 124,249. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.55 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $114.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.68. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $67.72 and a 52-week high of $129.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total transaction of $575,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,879 shares in the company, valued at $2,171,651.37. The trade was a 20.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LGND. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,652,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,085,627 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $223,475,000 after buying an additional 115,005 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 44.3% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 372,779 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,312,000 after buying an additional 114,436 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 95.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 185,402 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $19,866,000 after purchasing an additional 90,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 70.0% during the 4th quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 162,771 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,441,000 after purchasing an additional 67,033 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.