Conestoga Capital Advisors Has Decreased Its Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND) Holding as Market Valuation Rose; Vodafone Group Plc (Adr) (VOD) Stock Value Declined While Schafer Cullen Capital Management Has Boosted by $940,950 Its Position

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Schafer Cullen Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Vodafone Group Plc (Adr) (VOD) by 1.66% based on its latest 2018Q1 regulatory filing with the SEC. Schafer Cullen Capital Management Inc bought 34,850 shares as the company’s stock declined 10.20% with the market. The hedge fund held 2.14 million shares of the telecommunications equipment company at the end of 2018Q1, valued at $59.41 million, up from 2.10 million at the end of the previous reported quarter. Schafer Cullen Capital Management Inc who had been investing in Vodafone Group Plc (Adr) for a number of months, seems to be bullish on the $69.38 billion market cap company. The stock decreased 0.92% or $0.24 during the last trading session, reaching $25.93. About 4.16 million shares traded or 24.89% up from the average. Vodafone Group Plc (NASDAQ:VOD) has declined 12.54% since May 31, 2017 and is downtrending. It has underperformed by 25.11% the S&P500.

Conestoga Capital Advisors Llc decreased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc (LGND) by 3.94% based on its latest 2018Q1 regulatory filing with the SEC. Conestoga Capital Advisors Llc sold 19,300 shares as the company’s stock rose 24.00% while stock markets declined. The institutional investor held 470,530 shares of the major pharmaceuticals company at the end of 2018Q1, valued at $77.71M, down from 489,830 at the end of the previous reported quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors Llc who had been investing in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc for a number of months, seems to be less bullish one the $4.10B market cap company. The stock increased 0.37% or $0.7 during the last trading session, reaching $192.23. About 201,655 shares traded. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) has risen 66.74% since May 31, 2017 and is uptrending. It has outperformed by 54.17% the S&P500.

Among 10 analysts covering Vodafone Group PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD), 5 have Buy rating, 1 Sell and 4 Hold. Therefore 50% are positive. Vodafone Group PLC (ADR) had 18 analyst reports since October 19, 2015 according to SRatingsIntel. The stock of Vodafone Group Plc (NASDAQ:VOD) earned “Overweight” rating by Barclays Capital on Friday, December 8. The stock has “Neutral” rating by Bank of America on Wednesday, January 25. Standpoint Research downgraded the shares of VOD in report on Thursday, June 1 to “Reduce” rating. The stock of Vodafone Group Plc (NASDAQ:VOD) has “Buy” rating given on Monday, June 12 by Argus Research. Macquarie Research downgraded Vodafone Group Plc (NASDAQ:VOD) on Monday, June 13 to “Neutral” rating. The stock has “Hold” rating by HSBC on Tuesday, January 17. Macquarie Research upgraded the stock to “Outperform” rating in Monday, October 19 report. The firm has “Buy” rating given on Wednesday, April 4 by Citigroup. The stock has “Neutral” rating by Citigroup on Thursday, May 17. The stock has “Neutral” rating by BNP Paribas on Monday, November 21.

More important recent Vodafone Group Plc (NASDAQ:VOD) news were published by: Seekingalpha.com which released: “Vodafone: Slight Positive” on May 10, 2018, also Seekingalpha.com published article titled: “Vodafone falls 3% on CEO resignation”, Seekingalpha.com published: “Why The Negativity Over Vodafone?” on May 23, 2018. More interesting news about Vodafone Group Plc (NASDAQ:VOD) was released by: Seekingalpha.com and their article: “Vodafone Still Performing Relatively Well” with publication date: May 15, 2018.

Schafer Cullen Capital Management Inc, which manages about $10.62 billion and $8.32 billion US Long portfolio, decreased its stake in Hsbc Holdings Plc (Adr) (NYSE:HSBC) by 113,795 shares to 3.69 million shares, valued at $175.87 million in 2018Q1, according to the filing. It also reduced its holding in Japan Tobacco Inc. (Adr) by 320,811 shares in the quarter, leaving it with 3.46M shares, and cut its stake in Arcelik As (Adr) (ACKAY).

Analysts await Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) to report earnings on August, 6. They expect $0.82 EPS, up 51.85% or $0.28 from last year’s $0.54 per share. LGND’s profit will be $17.48M for 58.61 P/E if the $0.82 EPS becomes a reality. After $1.38 actual EPS reported by Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated for the previous quarter, Wall Street now forecasts -40.58% negative EPS growth.

Investors sentiment decreased to 1.06 in Q1 2018. Its down 0.19, from 1.25 in 2017Q4. It dropped, as 16 investors sold LGND shares while 109 reduced holdings. 52 funds opened positions while 80 raised stakes. 22.56 million shares or 0.54% less from 22.68 million shares in 2017Q4 were reported. 56,216 were reported by Ny State Common Retirement Fund. Cardinal Management Ltd Com Ct owns 2.69% invested in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) for 439,335 shares. Bancshares Of Nova Scotia reported 24,020 shares. Brinker Inc reported 1,687 shares. Adams Diversified Equity Fund stated it has 3,800 shares. Trillium Asset Mngmt Limited Liability Corp invested 0.04% of its portfolio in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND). Moreover, Envestnet Asset has 0% invested in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) for 5,899 shares. Huntington Bank & Trust stated it has 276 shares. Metropolitan Life Insur Ny accumulated 6,352 shares. Conestoga Capital Advsr Lc stated it has 2.98% of its portfolio in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND). Elk Creek Limited Liability Corporation owns 101,556 shares. Ameriprise Finance has 0.06% invested in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND). Comerica Bancshares reported 0.04% of its portfolio in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND). Raymond James Fincl Svcs Advsrs reported 1,384 shares. 7,766 are held by Brown Advisory.

More notable recent Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) news were published by: Investorplace.com which released: “5 Biotech Stocks to Boost Your Portfolio’s Health This Year” on May 31, 2018, also Seekingalpha.com with their article: “Xeris Pharmaceuticals on deck for IPO” published on May 25, 2018, Streetinsider.com published: “Ligand Pharma (LGND) Proposed Offering of $650M of Convertible Senior Notes” on May 16, 2018. More interesting news about Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) were released by: Globenewswire.com and their article: “New Research Coverage Highlights Assurant, Williams Partners, Atmos Energy, Nationstar Mortgage, Applied …” published on May 15, 2018 as well as Streetinsider.com‘s news article titled: “Ligand Pharma (LGND) Tops Q1 EPS by 40c” with publication date: May 08, 2018.

Since December 20, 2017, it had 0 buys, and 14 insider sales for $20.00 million activity. $1.49 million worth of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) was sold by FOEHR MATTHEW W. The insider KOZARICH JOHN W sold $401,063. Aryeh Jason had sold 3,417 shares worth $529,635. 28,099 shares were sold by HIGGINS JOHN L, worth $4.32M on Friday, January 19. The insider LAMATTINA JOHN L sold $536,604. On Monday, February 26 Davis Todd C sold $2.62M worth of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) or 17,170 shares.

Among 6 analysts covering Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND), 5 have Buy rating, 1 Sell and 0 Hold. Therefore 83% are positive. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had 29 analyst reports since September 3, 2015 according to SRatingsIntel. Roth Capital maintained the shares of LGND in report on Wednesday, September 30 with “Buy” rating. The firm earned “Buy” rating on Monday, February 26 by Roth Capital. The stock has “Buy” rating by Roth Capital on Monday, November 13. The firm has “Buy” rating by Craig Hallum given on Thursday, February 22. On Monday, November 20 the stock rating was downgraded by Deutsche Bank to “Sell”. On Wednesday, October 18 the stock rating was maintained by H.C. Wainwright with “Buy”. The stock of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) has “Buy” rating given on Wednesday, October 11 by Roth Capital. The stock of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) earned “Buy” rating by TH Capital on Friday, December 18. On Wednesday, September 30 the stock rating was maintained by TH Capital with “Buy”. The stock has “Buy” rating by H.C. Wainwright on Thursday, October 5.

Conestoga Capital Advisors Llc, which manages about $1.75B and $2.61 billion US Long portfolio, upped its stake in Fox Factory Hldg Corp (NASDAQ:FOXF) by 200,150 shares to 1.78M shares, valued at $62.15 million in 2018Q1, according to the filing. It also increased its holding in West Pharmaceutical Svsc Inc (NYSE:WST) by 5,305 shares in the quarter, for a total of 26,298 shares, and has risen its stake in Watsco Inc (NYSE:WSO).

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Institutional Positions Chart