Swiss National Bank Buys 700 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Swiss National Bank raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND – Get Rating) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 40,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LGND. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 155.4% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 572 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $59,000. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 10.6% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,341 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,377 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 12.4% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,114 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LGND has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.67.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 6,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.56, for a total value of $490,596.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 42,213 shares in the company, valued at $3,231,827.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 6,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.56, for a total value of $490,596.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 42,213 shares in the company, valued at $3,231,827.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John W. Kozarich sold 4,444 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $343,076.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,971,273.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,560 shares of company stock worth $1,348,898. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:LGND opened at $77.38 on Wednesday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $57.77 and a one year high of $109.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.41, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.08.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The biotechnology company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $1.39. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 3.44%. The business had revenue of $43.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company, which engages in the development and acquisition of technologies that help pharmaceutical companies to discover and develop medicines. Its products include evomela, IV voriconazole, duavee, viviant/conbriza, nexterone, and noxafil-IV. The company was founded by Ronald M.