Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Jason Aryeh Sells 282 Shares of Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Jason Aryeh sold 282 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.99, for a total value of $90,237.18. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 108,476 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,711,235.24. This represents a 0.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Jason Aryeh also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 2nd, Jason Aryeh sold 700 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.43, for a total value of $224,301.00.
• On Friday, October 30th, Jason Aryeh sold 1,411 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.24, for a total transaction of $451,858.64.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

LGND stock traded up $7.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $306.20. 130,176 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 239,773. The company has a quick ratio of 30.96, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $175.89 and a 52 week high of $326.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $298.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $255.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 136.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $78.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.00 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 5.22% and a net margin of 20.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 118.9% in the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 243 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 49.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 337 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LGND. Barclays began coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $345.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $345.00 to $357.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $326.00 target price (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $354.75.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND) is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, acquires and licenses technologies intended to improve the development and commercialization of medicines. Rather than operating primarily as a traditional drug manufacturer, Ligand generally works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners, receiving licensing payments, royalties and other consideration tied to partnered products.

The company’s principal technology is Captisol, a modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain active pharmaceutical ingredients.