Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND Stock Holdings Trimmed by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Key Points

• Edgestream Partners cut its Ligand Pharmaceuticals stake by 49.4% in the first quarter, selling 11,305 shares and retaining 11,584 shares worth approximately $2.3 million. Institutional investors overall own 91.28% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with seven Buy ratings and one Hold rating. The stock has an average price target of $319, while recent targets range from $289 to $388.
• Ligand shares opened at $287.54, near the upper end of their 52-week range, despite the company missing first-quarter earnings and revenue estimates. Insiders also sold 30,231 shares worth about $7.75 million during the last quarter.

Edgestream Partners L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) by 49.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,584 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 11,305 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned about 0.06% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $2,313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,009,891 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $201,623,000 after purchasing an additional 14,491 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,555 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 23,784 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,748,000 after buying an additional 4,987 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 111,543 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $22,270,000 after buying an additional 2,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $507,000. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $262.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $387.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $319.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $287.54 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 21.28, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company's 50-day moving average price is $279.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $231.93. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $129.55 and a 52 week high of $326.63. The stock has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 39.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.13.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.84 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $51.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.10 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 55.95% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director John L. Lamattina sold 4,591 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.88, for a total value of $1,151,790.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 26,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,765,982.72. This represents a 14.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.28, for a total value of $1,566,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,514 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,005,505.92. This trade represents a 10.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 30,231 shares of company stock valued at $7,754,451. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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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