Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $260.97 and last traded at $260.1250, with a volume of 18454 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $255.25.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LGND has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.71.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $230.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 37.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 55.95%.The firm had revenue of $51.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Jason Aryeh sold 4,500 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 102,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,645,000. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly 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 quarter, insiders sold 37,165 shares of company stock worth $8,761,363. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 25.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,120 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $344,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,660 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $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 raised 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 worth $5,817,000 after acquiring an additional 4,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 176.2% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 36,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,882,000 after acquiring an additional 23,553 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

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.