Calamos Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Calamos Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,586 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LGND. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 59.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 325,727 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $23,263,000 after purchasing an additional 121,049 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 136,229 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,163,000 after purchasing an additional 40,958 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 184,320 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $11,044,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 157.3% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 40,254 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,412,000 after purchasing an additional 24,610 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP now owns 83,121 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,937,000 after purchasing an additional 21,272 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LGND has been the topic of a number of research reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $144.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.33.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $68.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.86. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $49.24 and a 52 week high of $94.57.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $28.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.54 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 37.80%. On average, analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 3.41 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 1,893 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.30, for a total transaction of $140,649.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 28,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,149,201.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 10.40% 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.