Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $282.53 and last traded at $279.44, with a volume of 2298188 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $262.17.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LGND has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings cut Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.71.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 6.6%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a current ratio of 21.28. The company has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of 37.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.17.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $51.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.10 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 55.95% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jason Aryeh sold 4,500 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 102,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,645,000. This trade represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jason Haas sold 6,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.58, for a total value of $1,651,302.38. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,981 shares in the company, valued at $1,273,043.98. This trade represents a 56.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,165 shares of company stock valued at $8,553,493. Insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,789,955,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $93,809,000 after purchasing an additional 266,304 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 676.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 254,805 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,136,000 after purchasing an additional 221,996 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 64.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 378,295 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $67,011,000 after purchasing an additional 148,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 385,028.9% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 146,349 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,670,000 after buying an additional 146,311 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

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.