Rhumbline Advisers Trims Position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Rhumbline Advisers cut its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 57,456 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,989 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $6,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LGND. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 7,193 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 10,739 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 9,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $975,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Supplemental Annuity Collective Trust of NJ bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 621,482 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $66,592,000 after purchasing an additional 17,444 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.54, for a total transaction of $57,270.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,711,439.62. This represents a 1.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza bought 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $104.06 per share, for a total transaction of $156,090.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,906,603.92. This trade represents a 5.67% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $142.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $143.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.14.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

LGND opened at $114.45 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.60 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $105.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.75. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $77.53 and a 52-week high of $129.90.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $45.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.84 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 4.95%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.84 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.