Cibc World Market Inc. Sells 33,501 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Cibc World Market Inc. trimmed its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 56.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,630 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 33,501 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Market Inc.’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LGND. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,926 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $19,295,000 after purchasing an additional 2,860 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,915 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,653,000 after purchasing an additional 4,538 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 143,067 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,050,000 after purchasing an additional 31,081 shares during the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 82,991 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,701,000 after purchasing an additional 11,858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $2,789,955,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 1,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.87, for a total value of $207,870.00. Following the sale, the director owned 32,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,816,680.91. This trade represents a 2.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.06, for a total value of $1,135,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,382 shares in the company, valued at $9,396,196.92. This represents a 10.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 22,025 shares of company stock worth $4,851,266. Company insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LGND shares. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.71.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

LGND opened at $237.00 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $220.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.19. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $103.43 and a 1 year high of $247.38. The company has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 21.28 and a quick ratio of 20.95.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.84 by ($0.21). Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 55.95% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The firm had revenue of $51.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.