Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the six analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $144.83.

LGND has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $157.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of LGND opened at $124.33 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $108.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.90. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $57.00 and a twelve month high of $129.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 48.59 and a beta of 0.99.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Matthew E. Korenberg sold 6,275 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.10, for a total transaction of $653,227.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 50,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,285,885.70. This represents a 11.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.94, for a total value 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 trade represents a 4.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,322 shares of company stock valued at $1,974,073 over the last quarter. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LGND. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 224.1% during 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 period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 8.5% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,627 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,884,112 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $137,729,000 after acquiring an additional 7,598 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 21,701 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,992 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.