Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Receives Outperform Rating from Oppenheimer

Key Points

• Oppenheimer reiterated its “outperform” rating on Ligand Pharmaceuticals and raised its price target from $285 to $326, implying approximately 13.3% upside from the reported share price of $287.67.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: seven analysts rate LGND a Buy and one rates it Hold, resulting in a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $326 average price target.
• Ligand reported quarterly EPS of $1.63 and revenue of $51.72 million, both below consensus estimates, although revenue increased 14.1% year over year. Insiders sold approximately $7.75 million of stock over the past three months, while institutional investors own 91.28% of shares.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating restated by equities researchers at Oppenheimer in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $326.00 price objective on the biotechnology company's stock, up from their previous price objective of $285.00. Oppenheimer's price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.32% from the company's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on LGND. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $262.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $387.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their target price 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $326.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.0%

Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $287.67. 17,772 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 278,532. The company has a quick ratio of 20.95, a current ratio of 21.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $131.67 and a twelve month high of $326.63. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a fifty day moving average of $279.54 and a 200-day moving average of $231.93.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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%. The firm's revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 4.56 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 2,145 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 6.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.28, for a total value of $1,566,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,514 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,005,505.92. This represents a 10.75% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 30,231 shares of company stock worth $7,754,451. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LGND. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 22.5% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 10,358 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $75,000. Balefire LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $330,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 681 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,840,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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