Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

Posted by on Jun 7th, 2022

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND – Get Rating) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $185.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 18th. Stephens decreased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals to $130.00 and set a “na” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 16th. Benchmark decreased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $180.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 22nd. Zacks Investment Research raised Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 20th. Finally, Craig Hallum decreased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $215.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $170.43.

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $82.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.01, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.94. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $77.80 and a 52 week high of $169.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 5.88 and a current ratio of 6.48.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $45.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.21 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 9.00% and a return on equity of 8.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 0.92 EPS for the current year.

In other news, COO Matthew W. Foehr bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $82.76 per share, for a total transaction of $206,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 173,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,346,777.04. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LGND. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 18.2% during the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 623 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 279.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 876 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 10.6% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,341 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.61% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile (Get Rating)

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing or acquiring technologies that help pharmaceutical companies to discover and develop medicines worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Veklury for the treatment of moderate or severe COVID-19; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children.

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