Insider Selling: Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) COO Sells 11,389 Shares of Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) COO Matthew E. Korenberg sold 11,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.61, for a total transaction of $1,202,792.29. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 49,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,228,751.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of LGND opened at $105.20 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.86. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $49.24 and a 52 week high of $112.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35 and a beta of 1.01.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 79.30%. The firm had revenue of $41.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.04 million. During the same period in the previous 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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LGND shares. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Benchmark increased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $144.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, 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. One 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LGND. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 valued at $134,021,000 after buying an additional 24,653 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $809,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 24,784 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 155.3% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 73,161 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,348,000 after purchasing an additional 44,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 10,158 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $743,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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.