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

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Buy" from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $146.14.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LGND traded down $0.94 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $114.45. The stock had a trading volume of 121,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 116,436. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $105.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.75. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.60 and a beta of 0.83. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $77.53 and a fifty-two week high of $129.90.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $45.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $37.84 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 4.95% and a net margin of 29.68%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.84 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Todd C. Davis bought 9,510 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $105.20 per share, with a total value of $1,000,452.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 161,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,961,816.80. The trade was a 6.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.54, for a total value of $57,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,711,439.62. The trade was a 1.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 7,193 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 397,700 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $42,614,000 after acquiring an additional 24,921 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 10,739 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,150,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 9,100 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $975,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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.