Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock: Insider Jason Aryeh Sells 1,411 Shares

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Jason Aryeh sold 1,411 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.24, for a total transaction of $451,858.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 109,458 shares in the company, valued at $35,052,829.92. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Jason Aryeh also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 2nd, Jason Aryeh sold 700 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.43, for a total transaction of $224,301.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $316.13 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $298.16 and a 200-day moving average of $254.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 30.96. The company has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a PE ratio of 141.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.16. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $175.89 and a 1-year high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $78.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.00 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 5.22% and a net margin of 20.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,009,891 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $201,623,000 after purchasing an additional 14,491 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 283,567 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,614,000 after purchasing an additional 3,940 shares during the period. Ranger Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $81,424,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 31.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 157,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,518,000 after purchasing an additional 37,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,429,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LGND has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $345.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $397.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $326.00 price objective (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $345.00 target price for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $339.22.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND) is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, acquires and licenses technologies intended to improve the development and commercialization of medicines. Rather than operating primarily as a traditional drug manufacturer, Ligand generally works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners, receiving licensing payments, royalties and other consideration tied to partnered products.

The company’s principal technology is Captisol, a modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain active pharmaceutical ingredients.