Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Purchases 2,755 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 56.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,650 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,755 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LGND. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 20.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 43,456 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after buying an additional 7,247 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 428,270 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $42,874,000 after buying an additional 22,495 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 12.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,574 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,963,000 after buying an additional 6,555 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 7,193 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $771,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 163,924 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,407,000 after buying an additional 8,584 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of LGND opened at $115.41 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.98 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $114.19 and a 200 day moving average of $111.45. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $67.72 and a twelve month high of $129.90.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 2,104 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.37, for a total transaction of $244,842.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,402,691.39. This trade represents a 9.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 5.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LGND. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $147.00.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children.