Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $3.01 EPS

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) issued its earnings results on Tuesday. The biotechnology company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $3.01, RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $30.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.92 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 11.98% and a net margin of 37.80%. The company’s revenue was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:LGND traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $87.01. The company had a trading volume of 23,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 160,515. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.24. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $49.24 and a 12-month high of $94.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on LGND shares. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 12th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 1,893 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.30, for a total transaction of $140,649.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 28,926 shares in the company, valued at $2,149,201.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 10.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.