Public Sector Pension Investment Board Raises Holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,747 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 708,624 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,707,000 after purchasing an additional 44,543 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 604,038 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $60,458,000 after purchasing an additional 17,414 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 545,821 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $54,631,000 after acquiring an additional 30,875 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 44.3% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 372,779 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,312,000 after purchasing an additional 114,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.0% during the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 312,879 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,316,000 after acquiring an additional 20,404 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director John L. Lamattina sold 2,406 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.65, for a total transaction of $297,501.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 29,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,649,529.75. This represents a 7.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.94, for a total transaction of $132,523.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,557,963.40. The trade was a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,728 shares of company stock worth $2,271,575. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $157.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Benchmark raised their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $144.83.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

LGND opened at $122.70 on Tuesday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $58.97 and a 52-week high of $129.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $110.11 and a 200-day moving average of $99.95. The company has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 48.57 and a beta of 0.99.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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.