One Capital Management LLC Takes $1.76 Million Position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

One Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 9,287 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,789,955,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 749,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,232,000 after buying an additional 22,629 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 493,589 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $93,336,000 after buying an additional 19,400 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 64.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 378,295 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $67,011,000 after buying an additional 148,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 676.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 254,805 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,136,000 after buying an additional 221,996 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LGND has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $244.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.71.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 3,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $687,825.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,727,250. The trade was a 12.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.06, for a total transaction of $1,135,300.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,396,196.92. This represents a 10.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 22,025 shares of company stock worth $4,851,266 in the last quarter. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:LGND opened at $234.40 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a PE ratio of 31.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.17. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $101.67 and a twelve month high of $247.38. The company has a current ratio of 21.28, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $219.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.69.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.84 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $51.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.10 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 55.95%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that acquires, develops and out-licenses proprietary technologies designed to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies discover and develop novel medicines. Operating primarily through its research services and royalty-generating businesses, Ligand focuses on building a diversified portfolio of technology platforms and partnering with industry leaders to advance therapeutic candidates across multiple disease areas.

The company’s product offerings center around several core platforms.