Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Reaches New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $143.13 and last traded at $141.12, with a volume of 427636 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $139.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on LGND. Wall Street Zen lowered Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus began 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. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $147.17.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.57. The stock has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.72 and a beta of 0.84.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.10. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 7.83% and a negative net margin of 73.07%. The firm had revenue of $45.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.84 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 1,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.00, for a total value of $104,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,421,912. The trade was a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza acquired 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $104.06 per share, for a total transaction of $156,090.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 27,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,906,603.92. This trade represents a 5.67% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,934 shares of company stock worth $335,060 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,085,627 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $223,475,000 after purchasing an additional 115,005 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,015,023 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $108,757,000 after purchasing an additional 5,929 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 723,019 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $77,470,000 after purchasing an additional 16,003 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 647,941 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $73,658,000 after purchasing an additional 5,229 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 571,825 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $65,005,000 after purchasing an additional 17,308 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

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.