Ligand price target raised to $260 from $250 at BofA

BofA analyst Jason Zemansky raised the firm’s price target on Ligand (LGND) to $260 from $250 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares after the company announced plans to acquire fellow royalty aggregator Xoma (XOMA) for $739M plus a contingent value right related to certain pending litigation. The transaction “makes strategic and financial sense,” materially expanding Ligand’s portfolio by about 120 programs at “a reasonable price” and should meaningfully enhance Ligand’s earnings beginning near-term while also rapidly increasing its pool of deployable capital, the analyst tells investors.