Insider Buying: Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) CEO Buys $243,475.00 in Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) CEO Todd C. Davis bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $97.39 per share, for a total transaction of $243,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 123,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,979,943.90. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $100.15 on Monday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $49.24 and a 1 year high of $112.13. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $90.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.65.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $41.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.04 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 79.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 57.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Chicago Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 124.3% during the 2nd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 514,946 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,389,000 after purchasing an additional 285,350 shares in the last quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $14,367,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 659,434 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,097,000 after acquiring an additional 191,870 shares in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,350,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $7,655,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Craig Hallum lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.25.

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.