Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 3,284 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 102,874 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,284 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.53% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $10,816,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 68.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 593 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 397,700 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $42,614,000 after buying an additional 24,921 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,902 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during 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 worth $700,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during 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 worth $716,000 after buying an additional 5,201 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 934 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $116,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 46,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,807,000. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza purchased 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $104.06 per share, for a total transaction of $156,090.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 27,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,906,603.92. This trade represents a 5.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,934 shares of company stock valued at $335,060. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LGND. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $143.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $147.17.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 6.1%

Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $7.94 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $137.57. The stock had a trading volume of 371,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 118,344. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $90.29 and a 12 month high of $137.89. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $111.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of -19.32 and a beta of 0.84.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.10. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 7.83% and a negative net margin of 73.07%. The business had revenue of $45.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $37.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.84 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.