Deutsche Bank AG Purchases 15,160 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 289,052 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,160 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 1.53% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $30,972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LGND. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 43,456 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,349,000 after acquiring an additional 7,247 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 93,208 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $9,329,000 after purchasing an additional 4,439 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 13,520 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,399 shares during the period. Woodstock Corp increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 29,411 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,151,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $172,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LGND has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $143.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $146.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza acquired 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $104.06 per share, for a total transaction of $156,090.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,906,603.92. This trade represents a 5.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Todd C. Davis acquired 9,510 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $105.20 per share, with a total value of $1,000,452.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 161,234 shares in the company, valued at $16,961,816.80. The trade was a 6.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company's stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $2.54 on Monday, reaching $102.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 116,831. The company has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.64 and a beta of 0.87. The business's fifty day moving average price is $105.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.24. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $77.43 and a twelve month high of $129.90.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.10. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 4.95%. The business had revenue of $45.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.84 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals 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.