Andrew Reardon Sells 2,000 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) insider Andrew Reardon sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total value of $199,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 22,534 shares in the company, valued at $2,244,386.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Andrew Reardon also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, August 28th, Andrew Reardon sold 1,500 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.39, for a total value of $159,585.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ LGND opened at $99.38 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $102.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.13. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $49.24 and a fifty-two week high of $112.13. The company has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.22 and a beta of 1.01.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.34. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 29.69% and a return on equity of 7.91%. The business had revenue of $41.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 57.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chicago Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 124.3% during the second quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 514,946 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,389,000 after buying an additional 285,350 shares during the period. Ashford Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $14,367,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 659,434 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,097,000 after acquiring an additional 191,870 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $11,350,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $7,655,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Benchmark increased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.