Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Price Target Raised to $147.00

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) had its target price raised by investment analysts at Oppenheimer from $135.00 to $147.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective points to a potential upside of 22.24% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $157.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Benchmark upped their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.83.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $9.64 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $120.26. The stock had a trading volume of 68,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 135,590. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.43 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.85. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $51.21 and a 1-year high of $129.90.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.34. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 29.69% and a return on equity of 7.91%. The company had revenue of $41.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 57.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.94, for a total transaction of $132,523.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,963.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, COO Matthew E. Korenberg sold 11,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.61, for a total value of $1,202,792.29. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 49,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,228,751.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.94, for a total transaction of $132,523.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 24,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,963.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,368 shares of company stock valued at $3,458,560 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $809,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 224.1% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 35,841 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,620,000 after purchasing an additional 24,784 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 155.3% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 73,161 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,348,000 after purchasing an additional 44,499 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 16.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 115,480 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $11,558,000 after purchasing an additional 16,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.2% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 202,842 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,091,000 after buying an additional 13,595 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children.