Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND)

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $130.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 36.71% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on LGND. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, June 28th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Craig Hallum increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.25.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

LGND stock traded down $3.95 on Wednesday, reaching $95.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 92,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 148,959. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $49.24 and a 52 week high of $112.13. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.36 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $90.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.16.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $41.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.04 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 79.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 57.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 3.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Nancy Ryan Gray sold 934 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.20, for a total transaction of $77,708.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $468,665.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,873 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.01, for a total value of $505,136.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,882 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,090.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Nancy Ryan Gray sold 934 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.20, for a total transaction of $77,708.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,633 shares in the company, valued at $468,665.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,403 shares of company stock worth $2,150,882. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LGND. Chicago Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 124.3% in the second quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 514,946 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,389,000 after purchasing an additional 285,350 shares during the last quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $14,367,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 659,434 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,097,000 after buying an additional 191,870 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $11,350,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,655,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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.