Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Acquires 129 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,034 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LGND. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 15,084 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,510,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $329,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 163,924 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,407,000 after buying an additional 8,584 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 12.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,574 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,963,000 after acquiring an additional 6,555 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 550.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,749 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,276,000 after acquiring an additional 10,789 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.5 %

LGND opened at $109.70 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.97. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $67.72 and a 52 week high of $129.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of 43.71 and a beta of 1.12.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,879 shares in the company, valued at $2,171,651.37. The trade was a 20.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals 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.