Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND) and Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:INO) are two stocks from the pharma space that have recently seen insiders buying shares in large quantities. Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE:TRC), one of the largest ranching companies, has also seen its shares being purchased by an insider. Let’s explore each of these insider trades in detail.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:INO) is a $600 million market cap, vaccine manufacturing company. A couple of days ago, Peter Keiss, CFO of Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:INO) purchased 3,960 shares of the company at an average price of $10.10 per share. With this purchase, Keiss now owns atotal of 21,388 shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:INO). He also owns 4,500 shares of the company indirectly through his spouse. Cliff Asness‘ AQR Capital Management held over 69,000 shares of the company at the end of second quarter of this year, cutting its stake by 75% on the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management is bullish on Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:INO), it increased its stake by 96% during the second quarter to over 61,000 shares.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND) is a $928 million market cap, biopharmaceutical research company. On October 9, Jason Aryeh, a director of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND) purchased 11,000 shares of the company for an average price of $42.99 per share. After this purchase, Aryeh now owns a total of 255,716 shares of the company as a partner of JALAA Equities, LP and JLV Investments, LP. He also owns 5,025 shares of the company indirectly through a trust and 60,695 shares under his own name. David M. Knott’s Dorset Management and Mark Lampert’s Biotechnology Value Fund / Bvf Inc are two institutional investors that are bullish on this stock. As of June 30, 2014, Biotechnology Value Fund owns over 1.89 million shares and Dorset Management owns just under 1.25 million shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND).
Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE:TRC) is a $604 million market cap company, which is one of the largest private landowners in California. On October 9, Norman J Metcalfe, a director of Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE:TRC), bought 3,000 shares of the company at an average price of $29.34 per share and now owns a total of 33,594 shares. Martin Whitman’s Third Avenue Management is one of the largest shareholders of the company and as of June 30, 2014, owns over 2.3 million shares, that amount to over 10% of Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE:TRC). Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates is bullish on Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE:TRC), raising its stake by 20% during the second quarter of 2014 to over 1.39 million shares.
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