Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Sells $224,301.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Director Jason Aryeh sold 700 shares for $224,301 at an average price of $320.43, reducing his direct stake by 0.64% to 108,758 shares. He also sold 1,411 shares on October 30.
• Ligand beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting EPS of $2.67 versus $2.33 expected and revenue of $78.75 million versus $77 million expected. However, revenue fell 31.8% year over year.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $339.22; nine analysts rate the stock Buy and one rates it Hold.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) Director Jason Aryeh sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.43, for a total transaction of $224,301.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 108,758 shares in the company, valued at $34,849,325.94. The trade was a 0.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Jason Aryeh also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, October 30th, Jason Aryeh sold 1,411 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.24, for a total transaction of $451,858.64.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.1%

LGND stock traded up $6.50 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $313.52. The stock had a trading volume of 195,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 239,773. The company's 50-day moving average price is $297.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $253.48. 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 has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of 139.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $175.89 and a 12-month high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 5.22% and a net margin of 20.27%. The company had revenue of $78.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.09 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on LGND shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $326.00 target price (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings cut Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $345.00 to $357.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $358.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, September 25th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $345.00 price objective on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $339.22.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 1,002 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $244,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,784 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 49.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 337 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, XML Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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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