Bank of America Corp DE Has $11.51 Million Stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 107,439 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,533 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.57% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $11,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LGND. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 20.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 43,456 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,349,000 after acquiring an additional 7,247 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 24,921 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 10,739 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,150,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 9,100 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $975,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Todd C. Davis purchased 9,510 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 of the company's stock, valued at $16,961,816.80. The trade was a 6.27% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 18,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,171,651.37. This trade represents a 20.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on LGND shares. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $143.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $146.14.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $2.00 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $99.64. The stock had a trading volume of 30,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 109,235. The company has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.82 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $105.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.59. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $77.43 and a 52 week high of $129.90.

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

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.