Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock Price Target Raised at Barclays

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) had its price target upped by investment analysts at Barclays from $345.00 to $350.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.38% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $345.00 to $357.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $358.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $330.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Eight investment 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 price target of $355.38.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ LGND traded up $2.92 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $317.08. 8,218 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 264,449. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $175.89 and a 52-week high of $326.63. The firm has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a PE ratio of 141.70, a PEG ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $300.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $256.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.34. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 5.22%. The business had revenue of $78.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Jason Aryeh sold 1,411 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.24, for a total value of $451,858.64. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 109,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,052,829.92. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Martine Zimmermann sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.00, for a total value of $342,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,645. This represents a 23.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,593 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,297. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 50.6% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 103,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,277,000 after buying an additional 34,866 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $609,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,954,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 144,545 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,151,000 after acquiring an additional 3,096 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company that works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners to develop and commercialize medicines. Rather than focusing primarily on selling drugs directly, Ligand licenses technologies and drug-development assets and may receive royalties and other payments from partner programs. Its technologies include Captisol, a formulation platform designed to improve the solubility and delivery of certain medicines. Ligand also holds economic interests in a portfolio of partnered products and drug candidates across multiple therapeutic areas.