Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 9.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,509 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 2,441 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $2,789,955,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $93,809,000 after acquiring an additional 266,304 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 64.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 378,295 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $67,011,000 after purchasing an additional 148,437 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 385,028.9% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 146,349 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,670,000 after purchasing an additional 146,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,813,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 2,145 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total transaction of $544,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,541,766. The trade was a 6.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Lamattina sold 4,591 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.88, for a total transaction of $1,151,790.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 26,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,765,982.72. This represents a 14.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,698 shares of company stock worth $9,019,252. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of LGND stock opened at $314.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of 42.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $252.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.42. The company has a quick ratio of 20.95, a current ratio of 21.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $116.44 and a 52-week high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.84 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $51.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.10 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 55.95%.The firm’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LGND shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America began coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $244.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $272.29.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that acquires, develops and out-licenses proprietary technologies designed to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies discover and develop novel medicines. Operating primarily through its research services and royalty-generating businesses, Ligand focuses on building a diversified portfolio of technology platforms and partnering with industry leaders to advance therapeutic candidates across multiple disease areas.

The company’s product offerings center around several core platforms.