Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Takes Position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 276,731 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,652,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.46% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 7,193 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 758 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,297 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $568,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 4,034 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LGND has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com raised Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of LGND stock opened at $99.57 on Monday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $67.72 and a fifty-two week high of $129.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $113.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.14. The firm has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.67 and a beta of 1.07.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total value of $575,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,879 shares in the company, valued at $2,171,651.37. The trade was a 20.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.