Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND Shares Newly Purchased by William Blair Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management opened a new Ligand Pharmaceuticals position, buying 119,296 shares worth about $37.3 million, or 0.60% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 91.28% of LGND.
• Ligand’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $2.67 versus a $2.33 consensus and revenue of $78.75 million versus $77.0 million expected; revenue nevertheless fell 31.8% year over year.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $355.38. Shares fell 2.4% to $308.79 on Friday.

William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 119,296 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $37,264,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.60% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,009,891 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $201,623,000 after acquiring an additional 14,491 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 283,567 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $56,614,000 after acquiring an additional 3,940 shares during the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $81,424,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 41.4% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 170,089 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $53,131,000 after purchasing an additional 49,785 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 31.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 157,865 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $31,518,000 after purchasing an additional 37,696 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of LGND traded down $7.48 on Friday, hitting $308.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 129,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 215,877. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $301.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $258.02. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $175.89 and a fifty-two week high of $326.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 137.85, a P/E/G ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.16.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.34. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 5.22%. The firm had revenue of $78.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.00 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.09 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 31.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on LGND. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $326.00 target price (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 3rd. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $358.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $345.00 to $357.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 14th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $355.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jason Aryeh sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.05, for a total transaction of $960,150.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 105,476 shares in the company, valued at $33,757,593.80. This trade represents a 2.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.22, for a total transaction of $1,566,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,854 shares in the company, valued at $9,977,309.88. This represents a 13.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 21,593 shares of company stock worth $6,585,447 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company that works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners to develop and commercialize medicines. Rather than focusing primarily on selling drugs directly, Ligand licenses technologies and drug-development assets and may receive royalties and other payments from partner programs. Its technologies include Captisol, a formulation platform designed to improve the solubility and delivery of certain medicines. Ligand also holds economic interests in a portfolio of partnered products and drug candidates across multiple therapeutic areas.

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