Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Sells 20,819 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. has reduced its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 87.6% in the first quarter, now holding only 2,944 shares valued at $310,000.
• Multiple hedge funds have increased their holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals, with Arizona State Retirement System raising its stake by 2.1% this quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have upgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals, with Oppenheimer raising its target price from $145 to $162 and Royal Bank Of Canada lifting it to $185, indicating positive sentiment towards the stock.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) by 87.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,944 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 20,819 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,407 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $568,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the first quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,575 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,516 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,811 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,598 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LGND shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $155.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $145.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $157.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.88, for a total transaction of $61,587.96. Following the sale, the director owned 45,989 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,065,029.32. The trade was a 1.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.08, for a total transaction of $57,040.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 31,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,639,494.24. The trade was a 1.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,401 shares of company stock worth $292,648. Insiders own 7.00% of the company's stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

LGND traded down $0.29 during trading on Monday, hitting $158.79. 119,645 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 316,122. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $93.58 and a twelve month high of $161.93. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.70 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $132.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.64.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $47.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.87 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.44% and a negative return on equity of 9.21%. The company's revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.700-7.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current 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.