Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Position Lessened by Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 22.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,433 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,260 shares during the period. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $475,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 7,193 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 758 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,297 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $568,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 4,034 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.0%

LGND stock opened at $104.54 on Friday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $77.43 and a twelve month high of $129.90. The company has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 41.65 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $105.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.19.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.10. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 4.95% and a net margin of 29.68%. The business had revenue of $45.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.84 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LGND shares. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $143.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $146.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Todd C. Davis acquired 9,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $105.20 per share, with a total value of $1,000,452.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 161,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,961,816.80. This trade represents a 6.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza acquired 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $104.06 per share, for a total transaction of $156,090.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,906,603.92. This represents a 5.67% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.