Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Acquires 4,014 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 94,335 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,014 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $10,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LGND. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 20.0% during 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $5,963,000 after acquiring an additional 6,555 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 163,924 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,407,000 after purchasing an additional 8,584 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $111.67 on Tuesday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $67.72 and a 12-month high of $129.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.49 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $114.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.95.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,879 shares in the company, valued at $2,171,651.37. The trade was a 20.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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