Insider Selling: Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Insider Sells $1,006,200.00 in Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.24, for a total value of $1,006,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,327,713.68. This trade represents a 10.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Andrew Reardon also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, March 4th, Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.35, for a total value of $1,031,750.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $199.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 22.23 and a quick ratio of 21.98. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $197.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $193.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.14. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $93.58 and a one year high of $227.92.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.56. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 46.42%.The firm had revenue of $59.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LGND. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,915 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,653,000 after purchasing an additional 4,538 shares in the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $4,585,000. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 667,311 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $118,207,000 after buying an additional 19,370 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 59.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 541,845 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $95,982,000 after buying an additional 202,103 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 42.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 108,424 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $19,416,000 after acquiring an additional 32,379 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on LGND shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $244.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $231.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.86.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that acquires, develops and out-licenses proprietary technologies designed to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies discover and develop novel medicines. Operating primarily through its research services and royalty-generating businesses, Ligand focuses on building a diversified portfolio of technology platforms and partnering with industry leaders to advance therapeutic candidates across multiple disease areas.

The company’s product offerings center around several core platforms.