Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,519 Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired 2,519 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals, valued at approximately $265,000, marking a new position in the biotechnology company during the first quarter.
• Ligand Pharmaceuticals reported earnings per share of $1.33 for the latest quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.23, along with revenues of $45.33 million, which exceeded the expected $37.84 million.
• CEO Todd C. Davis purchased 9,510 shares for over $1 million, increasing his ownership in the company, while the stock has recently been downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" to a "sell" rating.

Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,519 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 825.4% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 546 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 68.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 593 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 934 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $116,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 46,456 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,807,000. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Todd C. Davis bought 9,510 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $105.20 per share, with a total value of $1,000,452.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 161,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,961,816.80. This trade represents a 6.27% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,934 shares of company stock valued at $335,060 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 7.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LGND. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $145.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $143.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $150.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:LGND traded down $0.69 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $134.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 56,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 124,981. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of -18.89 and a beta of 0.85. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $92.04 and a 12 month high of $143.13. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $118.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.97.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.10. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 73.07% and a negative return on equity of 7.83%. The business had revenue of $45.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $37.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.84 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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.