2,800 Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND Shares Acquired by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 65.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 118.9% in the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 243 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. GK Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $122,000. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 14,166.7% during the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 428 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.1%

Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $313.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.96, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $175.89 and a fifty-two week high of $326.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $297.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $253.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 30.96 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.34. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 5.22% and a net margin of 20.27%. The company had revenue of $78.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.09 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 31.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LGND shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $397.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays began coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, September 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $345.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $326.00 price objective (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $339.22.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 31,641 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.06, for a total value of $9,241,070.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,088,893.76. This trade represents a 53.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Martine Zimmermann sold 1,200 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.00, for a total transaction of $342,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,645. The trade was a 23.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 52,090 shares of company stock valued at $15,300,108 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

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.