Ligand Pharmaceuticals’ (LGND) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reiterated their buy rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $157.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

LGND has been the subject of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Craig Hallum raised their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $132.83.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of LGND stock traded up $4.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $110.10. 8,405 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 134,758. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.42. The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.94 and a beta of 1.00. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $51.21 and a fifty-two week high of $115.53.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.34. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 29.69% and a return on equity of 7.91%. The firm had revenue of $41.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 57.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 3.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Todd C. Davis acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $97.39 per share, for a total transaction of $243,475.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,010 shares in the company, valued at $11,979,943.90. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, COO Matthew E. Korenberg sold 18,245 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total value of $1,797,132.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 68,368 shares in the company, valued at $6,734,248. The trade was a 0.00 % 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. Also, CEO Todd C. Davis bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $97.39 per share, with a total value of $243,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 123,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,979,943.90. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,255,692 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LGND. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,884,112 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $137,729,000 after purchasing an additional 7,598 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 708,624 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,707,000 after purchasing an additional 44,543 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 604,038 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $60,458,000 after purchasing an additional 17,414 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.0% in the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 545,821 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,631,000 after purchasing an additional 30,875 shares during the period. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 312,879 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,316,000 after buying an additional 20,404 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

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.