Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with seven buy ratings and one hold rating among eight covering analysts. The average 1-year price target is about $292.86.
• Several analysts recently raised their outlook on the stock, including Stifel Nicolaus and Bank of America, both of which boosted price targets and reiterated buy ratings. Weiss Ratings was the only firm noted to trim its rating slightly.
• The company reported Q1 earnings below expectations, with EPS of $1.63 versus the $1.84 estimate and revenue of $51.72 million versus $59.10 million expected. Despite the miss, revenue still rose 14.1% year over year, and analysts expect full-year EPS of 4.56.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $292.8571.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Jason Aryeh sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 102,580 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,645,000. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jason Haas sold 6,461 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.58, for a total value of $1,651,302.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,981 shares in the company, valued at $1,273,043.98. This trade represents a 56.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 35,698 shares of company stock worth $9,019,252 over the last three months. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 17,050.0% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 343 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of LGND opened at $300.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $259.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.63. The company has a quick ratio of 20.95, a current ratio of 21.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.10. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $122.29 and a 52-week high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.84 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $51.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 4.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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