Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock: Insider Jason Aryeh Sells 282 Shares

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Jason Aryeh sold 282 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.99, for a total transaction of $90,237.18. Following the sale, the director directly owned 108,476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,711,235.24. The trade was a 0.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Jason Aryeh also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 2nd, Jason Aryeh sold 700 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.43, for a total value of $224,301.00.
• On Friday, October 30th, Jason Aryeh sold 1,411 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.24, for a total value of $451,858.64.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ LGND traded up $7.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $306.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 130,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 266,658. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 136.70, a P/E/G ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50-day moving average is $298.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $254.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 30.96. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $175.89 and a 1-year high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $78.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.00 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 5.22% and a net margin of 20.27%. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was down 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on LGND shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $345.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $358.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $326.00 target price (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $339.78.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ranger Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $81,424,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $41,429,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $37,264,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 358.8% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 107,859 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $21,535,000 after buying an additional 84,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 41.4% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 170,089 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $53,131,000 after buying an additional 49,785 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND) is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, acquires and licenses technologies intended to improve the development and commercialization of medicines. Rather than operating primarily as a traditional drug manufacturer, Ligand generally works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners, receiving licensing payments, royalties and other consideration tied to partnered products.

The company’s principal technology is Captisol, a modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain active pharmaceutical ingredients.