Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) PT Raised to $157.00 at HC Wainwright

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at HC Wainwright from $144.00 to $157.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 47.42% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.40.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $106.50 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $103.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.22. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $49.24 and a twelve month high of $112.13. The stock has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60 and a beta of 1.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.40 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $41.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 57.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Todd C. Davis bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $97.39 per share, for a total transaction of $243,475.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 123,010 shares in the company, valued at $11,979,943.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Todd C. Davis bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $97.39 per share, for a total transaction of $243,475.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 123,010 shares in the company, valued at $11,979,943.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.39, for a total transaction of $159,585.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 22,534 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,397,392.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,613 shares of company stock worth $5,255,692 in the last quarter. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,884,112 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $137,729,000 after acquiring an additional 7,598 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 708,624 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,707,000 after acquiring an additional 44,543 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.0% during the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 545,821 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,631,000 after acquiring an additional 30,875 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.5% during the second quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 292,475 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,644,000 after acquiring an additional 12,691 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.2% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 202,842 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,091,000 after acquiring an additional 13,595 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

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.