Isthmus Partners LLC Reduces Stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Key Points

• Isthmus Partners LLC reduced its Ligand Pharmaceuticals stake by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 24,708 shares valued at about $4.67 million.
• Ligand Pharmaceuticals shares fell 2.6% to $213.21, while the company reported Q1 earnings of $1.63 EPS, missing analyst estimates and coming in below expected revenue as well.
• Despite mixed results, analysts remain largely positive: several firms raised price targets, and the stock currently carries a Moderate Buy consensus with a $257.71 average target price.

Isthmus Partners LLC lowered its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,708 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 4,790 shares during the period. Isthmus Partners LLC owned about 0.13% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $4,672,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $2,789,955,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 749,754 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $85,232,000 after purchasing an additional 22,629 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 59.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 541,845 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $95,982,000 after purchasing an additional 202,103 shares during the last quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1,922.9% in the 3rd quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC now owns 402,494 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $71,298,000 after purchasing an additional 382,597 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 64.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 378,295 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $67,011,000 after purchasing an additional 148,437 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.6%

LGND stock opened at $213.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 21.28 and a quick ratio of 20.95. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $98.89 and a 1-year high of $247.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $201.85. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.93, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.20.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.84 by ($0.21). Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 55.95%.The company had revenue of $51.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $59.10 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.31, for a total value of $1,156,550.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,572,070.42. The trade was a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John W. Kozarich sold 1,575 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.50, for a total value of $352,012.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 41,786 shares in the company, valued at $9,339,171. This represents a 3.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 37,949 shares of company stock worth $8,014,056 in the last quarter. 7.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LGND has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $257.71.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that acquires, develops and out-licenses proprietary technologies designed to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies discover and develop novel medicines. Operating primarily through its research services and royalty-generating businesses, Ligand focuses on building a diversified portfolio of technology platforms and partnering with industry leaders to advance therapeutic candidates across multiple disease areas.

The company's product offerings center around several core platforms.

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