Sei Investments Co. Grows Position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,482 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 37,237 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,990,000 after buying an additional 2,381 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $338,000. Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $473,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 4,034 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 5,413 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,171,651.37. This represents a 20.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 5.2 %

Shares of LGND opened at $103.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.08 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LGND. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 price target 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.00.

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.