Janus Henderson Group PLC Purchases 14,491 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,009,891 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,491 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 0.05% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $201,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LGND. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 25.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,120 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $344,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,660 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 55,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,817,000 after purchasing an additional 4,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 2,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total value of $544,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,629 shares in the company, valued at $8,541,766. This represents a 6.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was 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 owned 41,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,396,196.92. This trade represents a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,231 shares of company stock valued at $7,754,451. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ LGND opened at $296.29 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $278.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $231.36. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $129.55 and a 52 week high of $326.63. The company has a quick ratio of 20.95, a current ratio of 21.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.20, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.10.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $51.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.10 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 55.95%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LGND. Citigroup assumed coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $387.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $262.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals 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.