Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Sells $960,150.00 in Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Jason Aryeh sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.05, for a total value of $960,150.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 105,476 shares in the company, valued at $33,757,593.80. This trade represents a 2.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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

• On Wednesday, November 4th, Jason Aryeh sold 282 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.99, for a total value of $90,237.18.
• 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 value of $224,301.00.
• On Friday, October 30th, Jason Aryeh sold 1,411 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.24, for a total value of $451,858.64.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ LGND traded down $0.56 during trading on Thursday, hitting $316.27. 246,566 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 264,901. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $175.89 and a 12-month high of $326.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $300.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $256.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a PE ratio of 141.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 1.16.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.34. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 5.22%. The firm had revenue of $78.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.09 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on LGND shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $345.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $326.00 price target (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $358.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $402.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $345.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $355.38.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LGND. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 681 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Choreo LLC increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $510,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,484 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 1,002 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company that works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners to develop and commercialize medicines. Rather than focusing primarily on selling drugs directly, Ligand licenses technologies and drug-development assets and may receive royalties and other payments from partner programs. Its technologies include Captisol, a formulation platform designed to improve the solubility and delivery of certain medicines. Ligand also holds economic interests in a portfolio of partnered products and drug candidates across multiple therapeutic areas.