Jason Aryeh Sells 4,500 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Jason Aryeh sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 102,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,645,000. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Wednesday, June 10th, Jason Aryeh sold 500 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $125,000.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:LGND opened at $255.54 on Friday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $110.00 and a 52 week high of $259.03. The firm has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $225.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a current ratio of 21.28.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.21). Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 55.95%.The business had revenue of $51.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on LGND. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $244.00 price objective for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.71.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 31.6% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 271 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that acquires, develops and out-licenses proprietary technologies designed to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies discover and develop novel medicines. Operating primarily through its research services and royalty-generating businesses, Ligand focuses on building a diversified portfolio of technology platforms and partnering with industry leaders to advance therapeutic candidates across multiple disease areas.

The company’s product offerings center around several core platforms.