Baird Financial Group Inc. Buys 6,143 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 77,207 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 6,143 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.41% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $8,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 43,456 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 7,247 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 7,193 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 397,700 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $42,614,000 after acquiring an additional 24,921 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 10,739 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,150,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 9,100 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $975,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of LGND stock traded up $1.90 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $106.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 141,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 117,382. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $77.43 and a 1-year high of $129.90. The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.38 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's 50-day moving average is $106.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.46.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.10. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 4.95%. The firm had revenue of $45.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $37.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total transaction of $575,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,171,651.37. The trade was a 20.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on LGND shares. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $143.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $146.14.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.