Insider Selling: Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Insider Sells $1,566,100.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 Ligand shares for about $1.57 million at an average price of $313.22, under a prearranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. He retained 31,854 shares after the sale.
• Reardon also sold 5,000 shares in each of September and October, making this his third reported 5,000-share sale in as many months.
• Ligand beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, though revenue fell 31.8% year over year. Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $339.22.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was 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 owned 31,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,977,309.88. The trade was a 13.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Andrew Reardon also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, October 2nd, Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.07, for a total transaction of $1,520,350.00.
• On Thursday, September 3rd, Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.09, for a total transaction of $1,430,450.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LGND traded up $2.61 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $316.13. The stock had a trading volume of 179,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 267,392. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.13, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $175.89 and a 1-year high of $326.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 30.96. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $297.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $253.48.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.00 million. The business's revenue was down 31.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LGND. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 52,094 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $15,771,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 1,002 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $244,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,784 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 49.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 337 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on LGND shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $397.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, September 25th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $345.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $339.22.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated NASDAQ: LGND is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, acquires and licenses technologies intended to improve the development and commercialization of medicines. Rather than operating primarily as a traditional drug manufacturer, Ligand generally works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners, receiving licensing payments, royalties and other consideration tied to partnered products.

The company's principal technology is Captisol, a modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain active pharmaceutical ingredients.

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