Insider Selling: Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) CFO Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total value of $575,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,171,651.37. This represents a 20.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Octavio Espinoza also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, December 23rd, Octavio Espinoza sold 2,104 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.37, for a total value of $244,842.48.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of LGND stock opened at $114.83 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $114.26 and a 200 day moving average of $111.51. The stock has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.75 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 758 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 2,896 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 661 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on LGND shares. Barclays raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.