Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 115,005 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,085,627 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 115,005 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $223,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LGND. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in 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. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 758 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,297 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 4,034 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total transaction of $575,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,171,651.37. This trade represents a 20.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.4 %

NASDAQ LGND opened at $99.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.67 and a beta of 1.12. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $67.72 and a twelve month high of $129.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on LGND. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays increased their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.00.

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.