Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock Price Down 5.2%

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)’s share price fell 5.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $74.50 and last traded at $74.76. 37,892 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 157,770 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on LGND. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 12th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $144.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.33.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.54.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $28.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.54 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 37.80%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 1,893 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.30, for a total value of $140,649.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,926 shares in the company, valued at $2,149,201.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 10.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 129.2% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 85,195 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,228,000 after buying an additional 48,022 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $337,000. M&R Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $146,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,876,514 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $134,021,000 after acquiring an additional 24,653 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.