Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND) shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund interest of late.
At the moment, there are dozens of methods investors can use to monitor the equity markets. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a significant margin (see just how much).
Equally as key, bullish insider trading activity is another way to break down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of stimuli for a bullish insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a look at the key action encompassing Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND).
What does the smart money think about Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 17% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Peter S. Park’s Park West Asset Management had the biggest position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND), worth close to $40.1 million, comprising 4.5% of its total 13F portfolio. On Park West Asset Management’s heels is Julian Baker and Felix Baker of Baker Bros. Advisors, with a $2 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Thomas Bailard’s Bailard Inc, David Moradi’s Anthion Management and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.
As industrywide interest jumped, some big names were breaking ground themselves. Anthion Management, managed by David Moradi, initiated the most outsized position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND). Anthion Management had 0.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors also initiated a $0.4 million position during the quarter.
What have insiders been doing with Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND)?
Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time frame, Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND) has experienced 4 unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND). These stocks are Akorn, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRX), Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVNR), Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTA), Hi-Tech Pharmacal Co. (NASDAQ:HITK), and Sagent Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SGNT). This group of stocks belong to the drugs – generic industry and their market caps match LGND’s market cap.
