Stephen Sabba Sells 2,145 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Stephen Sabba sold 2,145 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total transaction of $544,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 33,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,541,766. This represents a 6.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of LGND opened at $263.14 on Thursday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $228.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.84. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $110.00 and a twelve month high of $267.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.70, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.71.

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.