Stephen Sabba Sells 2,145 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGNDGet Free Report) Director Stephen Sabba sold 2,145 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total transaction of $544,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 33,629 shares in the company, valued at $8,541,766. The trade was a 6.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ LGND opened at $274.88 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.30, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.17. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $110.00 and a 12 month high of $276.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $231.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.81. The company has a current ratio of 21.28, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGNDGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 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 business had revenue of $51.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.10 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LGND. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at $263,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth about $1,337,000. Argent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $696,000. Cim Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% during 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, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LGND has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $244.00 price target for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.71.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on LGND

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Insider Buying and Selling by Quarter for Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND)

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