Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Buys 1,781 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,518 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,781 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.08% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $1,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LGND. Barclays PLC grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 20.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 43,456 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,349,000 after acquiring an additional 7,247 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 503.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 94,659 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,793,000 after purchasing an additional 78,973 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 93,208 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,329,000 after purchasing an additional 4,439 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,572 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 13,520 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after buying an additional 2,399 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total value of $575,150.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,171,651.37. This represents a 20.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.43.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of LGND stock opened at $102.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.84 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $106.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.42. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $77.43 and a one year high of $129.90.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $45.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.84 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 29.68% and a return on equity of 4.95%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.84 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 earnings per share 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.