Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Given New $147.00 Price Target at Oppenheimer

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) had its target price increased by Oppenheimer from $135.00 to $147.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

LGND has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $157.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.17.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 6.7 %

LGND traded down $8.65 during trading on Friday, hitting $121.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 260,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 103,330. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $51.21 and a twelve month high of $129.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $105.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.13 and a beta of 0.99.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.34. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 7.91% and a net margin of 29.69%. The firm had revenue of $41.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 57.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 3.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.94, for a total value of $132,523.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 24,610 shares in the company, valued at $2,557,963.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.94, for a total transaction of $132,523.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 24,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,557,963.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Matthew E. Korenberg sold 9,772 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.22, for a total value of $989,121.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 50,777 shares in the company, valued at $5,139,647.94. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,368 shares of company stock worth $3,458,560 in the last quarter. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,884,112 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $137,729,000 after buying an additional 7,598 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 708,624 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,707,000 after purchasing an additional 44,543 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 604,038 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $60,458,000 after purchasing an additional 17,414 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 545,821 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,631,000 after purchasing an additional 30,875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 312,879 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,316,000 after purchasing an additional 20,404 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

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.