Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock Price

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada raised Ligand Pharmaceuticals’ price target to $357 from $345 while maintaining an “outperform” rating, implying approximately 11.6% upside from the reported $319.94 share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: all 10 analysts rate the stock a Buy, with an average price target of $339.22. Other firms, including Bank of America and Oppenheimer, have also recently raised their targets.
• Ligand exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $2.67 versus the $2.33 consensus and revenue of $78.75 million versus $77 million expected, although revenue declined 31.8% year over year.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada from $345.00 to $357.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the biotechnology company's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price target points to a potential upside of 11.58% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on LGND. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $326.00 target price (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, September 25th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $339.22.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of LGND stock traded up $2.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $319.94. 129,511 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 266,901. The company has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 30.96, a current ratio of 31.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $295.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $251.72. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $175.89 and a 1-year high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $78.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $77.00 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 67.88% and a return on equity of 20.06%. The company's revenue was down 31.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.09 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 31,641 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 27,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,088,893.76. This represents a 53.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jason Haas sold 7,138 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.81, for a total transaction of $2,090,077.78. Following the sale, the director owned 3,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,165,676.61. The trade was a 64.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 54,979 shares of company stock valued at $16,068,898 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 681 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Choreo LLC boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,634 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $510,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Cim Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,484 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC increased its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% during the second quarter. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $27,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.

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