Fisher Asset Management LLC Raises Position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 20.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,858 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,932 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $24,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $2,789,955,000. Acuitas Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1,922.9% in the third quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC now owns 402,494 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $71,298,000 after acquiring an additional 382,597 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 676.6% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 254,805 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,136,000 after acquiring an additional 221,996 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 64.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 378,295 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $67,011,000 after acquiring an additional 148,437 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 385,028.9% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 146,349 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,670,000 after acquiring an additional 146,311 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on LGND. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $244.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.71.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of LGND opened at $235.33 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $216.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $203.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.93, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 21.28, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $98.89 and a 1-year high of $247.38.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $51.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.10 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 55.95% and a return on equity of 16.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.31, for a total value of $1,156,550.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,572,070.42. This represents a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 3,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $687,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,727,250. This trade represents a 12.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 37,949 shares of company stock worth $8,014,056 in the last ninety days. 7.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.