Ligand Pharmaceuticals’ (LGND) Buy Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright restated their buy rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $157.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Craig Hallum upped their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.83.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 4.1 %

LGND stock opened at $110.04 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.94 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.81. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $51.21 and a fifty-two week high of $115.53.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 1,500 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.39, for a total value of $159,585.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,534 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,392.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Matthew E. Korenberg sold 11,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.61, for a total transaction of $1,202,792.29. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 49,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,228,751.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.39, for a total transaction of $159,585.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 22,534 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,392.26. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 51,613 shares of company stock worth $5,255,692. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LGND. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,876,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $134,021,000 after acquiring an additional 24,653 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 14,344 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth $809,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 10,158 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $743,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.