Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $397.00 to $402.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Citigroup‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 31.29% from the company’s previous close.

LGND has been the subject of a number of other research reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $358.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays started coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, September 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $345.00 price target for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $326.00 price target (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $354.75.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LGND traded up $7.20 on Thursday, hitting $306.20. The company had a trading volume of 130,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 239,773. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $175.89 and a 1-year high of $326.63. The stock has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 136.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $298.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $255.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 30.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $78.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.00 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 5.22%. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was down 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.09 EPS. Analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.07, for a total transaction of $1,520,350.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 31,854 shares in the company, valued at $9,685,845.78. This represents a 13.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 31,641 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.06, for a total transaction of $9,241,070.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,696 shares in the company, valued at $8,088,893.76. This represents a 53.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 57,372 shares of company stock valued at $16,956,445 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LGND. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,009,891 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $201,623,000 after acquiring an additional 14,491 shares in the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 283,567 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $56,614,000 after acquiring an additional 3,940 shares during the period. Ranger Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $81,424,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 170,089 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $53,131,000 after purchasing an additional 49,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 31.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 157,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,518,000 after purchasing an additional 37,696 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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.