SG Americas Securities LLC Decreases Holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 86.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,416 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 9,401 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 17,050.0% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 343 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

LGND opened at $316.24 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $256.11 and a 200 day moving average of $220.95. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $120.68 and a 52-week high of $326.63. The company has a quick ratio of 20.95, a current ratio of 21.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.91, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.21). Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 55.95%.The business had revenue of $51.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.10 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LGND. Bank of America raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. 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. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director John L. Lamattina sold 4,591 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.88, for a total value of $1,151,790.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,969 shares in the company, valued at $6,765,982.72. This represents a 14.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jason Haas sold 6,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.58, for a total transaction of $1,651,302.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,981 shares in the company, valued at $1,273,043.98. This represents a 56.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 35,698 shares of company stock worth $9,019,252 over the last ninety days. 7.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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.