State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Buys New Position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND – Get Rating) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 23,336 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,009,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LGND. Venture Visionary Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $36,000. ACG Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $122,000. KBC Group NV acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $128,000. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,341 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 38.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,078 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. 87.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,696 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.64, for a total value of $128,285.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $669,943.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.64, for a total value of $128,285.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $669,943.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Higgins sold 10,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.87, for a total value of $618,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 422,984 shares in the company, valued at $26,170,020.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,696 shares of company stock valued at $1,530,185 over the last 90 days. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on LGND shares. Roth Capital lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 23rd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 21st. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals to $95.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.0 %

Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $70.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -57.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.10. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $57.77 and a 1-year high of $128.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.81.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.29). The company had revenue of $66.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.47 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 8.62% and a positive return on equity of 2.57%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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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.