Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Boosts Stock Position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 397,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,921 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $42,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 43,456 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after buying an additional 7,247 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 428,270 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $42,874,000 after acquiring an additional 22,495 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 12.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,142 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of LGND opened at $109.70 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $114.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.97. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $67.72 and a twelve month high of $129.90. The company has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.71 and a beta of 1.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LGND. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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 report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.00.

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.