Insider Selling: Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Insider Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Insider sale: Ligand Pharmaceuticals insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares on July 1 at an average price of $313.28, totaling about $1.57 million. The transaction reduced his ownership by 10.75% and was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
• Recent selling trend: Reardon also sold 5,000 shares each on June 1 and May 1, indicating a series of insider sales over the past few months. Those earlier sales were executed at much lower prices than the latest trade.
• Stock and sentiment backdrop: LGND shares recently traded near their 52-week high at $320.42, while analysts remain mostly positive with seven Buy ratings and an average price target of $257.71. The company’s latest quarterly results missed EPS and revenue expectations, even though revenue rose year over year.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.28, for a total transaction of $1,566,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,514 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,005,505.92. The trade was a 10.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Monday, June 1st, Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.06, for a total transaction of $1,135,300.00.
• On Friday, May 1st, Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.31, for a total transaction of $1,156,550.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LGND traded up $0.87 on Monday, hitting $320.42. 349,437 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 273,442. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 21.28, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $112.83 and a 1-year high of $322.31. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $247.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $216.82.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.84 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $51.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.10 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 55.95% and a return on equity of 16.19%. Ligand Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,789,955,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,009,891 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $201,623,000 after purchasing an additional 14,491 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 749,754 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $85,232,000 after purchasing an additional 22,629 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 516,464 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $97,648,000 after buying an additional 138,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $93,809,000 after purchasing an additional 266,304 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LGND has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $244.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $257.71.

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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