Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with 7 of 8 research firms recommending the stock and an average 12-month price target of about $257.71.
• The company recently reported Q1 earnings of $1.63 per share, missing Wall Street estimates of $1.84, while revenue came in at $51.72 million versus expectations of $59.10 million.
• Shares were trading near $274.88, close to their 52-week high of $276.20, as institutional investors held 91.28% of the stock and insiders continued to sell shares in recent months.

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $257.7143.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. 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. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $244.00 price target on the stock.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 2,145 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total transaction of $544,830.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 33,629 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,541,766. This trade represents a 6.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.31, for a total transaction of $1,156,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,572,070.42. This represents a 10.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 37,165 shares of company stock valued at $8,761,363 over the last 90 days. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $2,789,955,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the first 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 during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the second 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 period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 516,464 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $97,648,000 after acquiring an additional 138,169 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $93,809,000 after acquiring an additional 266,304 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $274.88 on Friday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $110.00 and a 1 year high of $276.20. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $231.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $208.81. The firm has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a current ratio of 21.28.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.21). Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 55.95%.The firm had revenue of $51.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.