Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Shares Acquired by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) by 17,612.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,348 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 61,996 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned about 0.32% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $6,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 7,193 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 397,700 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $42,614,000 after acquiring an additional 24,921 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 10,739 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,150,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 9,100 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $975,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza acquired 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $104.06 per share, with a total value of $156,090.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,906,603.92. This trade represents a 5.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.00, for a total value of $104,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,903 shares in the company, valued at $3,421,912. This represents a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of LGND stock traded down $0.02 on Thursday, hitting $115.37. The stock had a trading volume of 48,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 116,018. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $77.53 and a one year high of $129.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $104.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.80. The company has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 45.96 and a beta of 0.83.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $37.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.84 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LGND has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $143.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $146.14.

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.