Aberdeen Group plc Purchases 12,989 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 229,230 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,989 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $26,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LGND. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $16,526,000. CenterBook Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 190.2% during the 1st quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 68,299 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,181,000 after purchasing an additional 44,760 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $4,657,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 41.6% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 135,365 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,232,000 after purchasing an additional 39,765 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 176.2% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 36,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,882,000 after purchasing an additional 23,553 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on LGND shares. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $157.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Benchmark upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $155.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.50.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.44, for a total transaction of $83,798.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 45,055 shares in the company, valued at $8,084,669.20. This represents a 1.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jason Aryeh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $1,708,100.00. Following the sale, the director owned 69,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,835,254.09. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,401 shares of company stock valued at $1,929,262 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.2%

LGND opened at $179.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $164.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.60. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $93.58 and a 12-month high of $186.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.97 and a beta of 0.95.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 9.21% and a negative net margin of 40.44%.The firm had revenue of $47.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.700-7.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals 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.