Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 16.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 80,401 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,181 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $16,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,342 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 38,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,766,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Future Fund LLC grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Future Fund LLC now owns 13,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,763,000 after buying an additional 4,560 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,570 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,312,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 358.8% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 107,859 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $21,535,000 after buying an additional 84,349 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Jason Haas sold 6,461 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.58, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.28, for a total transaction of $1,566,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,505.92. The trade was a 10.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,698 shares of company stock valued at $9,019,252. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LGND has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright raised their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $262.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $387.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.8%

LGND opened at $288.01 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $276.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 21.28 and a quick ratio of 20.95. The stock has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.10. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $129.55 and a 12 month high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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.