Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Purchases New Shares in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Key Points

• Contravisory Investment Management Inc. has acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals, purchasing 2,261 shares valued at approximately $257,000.
• Ligand Pharmaceuticals has received multiple upgrades from analysts, with six research firms rating the stock as a "Buy" and increasing the average target price to $176.50.
• The company's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $1.60, exceeding estimates and reflecting a 14.7% year-over-year revenue growth to $47.63 million.

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,261 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 102,874 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $10,816,000 after buying an additional 3,284 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 40,456 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,254,000 after buying an additional 3,219 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 6,658 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $700,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 323.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,808 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $716,000 after buying an additional 5,201 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

LGND traded up $4.26 during trading on Monday, reaching $170.77. 256,773 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 217,201. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $93.58 and a 1 year high of $172.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.69 and a beta of 0.96. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $151.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.37.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LGND. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $157.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective 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. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $167.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $176.50.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction, the director directly owned 46,456 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,807,000. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,868 shares of company stock worth $254,113. 7.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.