Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND Shares Sold by Isthmus Partners LLC

Isthmus Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,326 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 4,609 shares during the period. Isthmus Partners LLC’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,009,891 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $201,623,000 after buying an additional 14,491 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 283,567 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,614,000 after buying an additional 3,940 shares during the period. Ranger Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $81,424,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 31.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 157,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,518,000 after acquiring an additional 37,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth approximately $41,429,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jason Haas sold 7,138 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.81, for a total transaction of $2,090,077.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,165,676.61. This represents a 64.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 31,641 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.06, for a total value of $9,241,070.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,088,893.76. The trade was a 53.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 54,979 shares of company stock worth $16,068,898 over the last three months. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.2%

LGND opened at $307.82 on Friday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $175.89 and a fifty-two week high of $326.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 32.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 31.18 and a quick ratio of 30.96. The company’s 50-day moving average is $293.50 and its 200 day moving average is $271.91.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $63.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.30 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 20.06% and a net margin of 67.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on LGND. Citigroup raised their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $397.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Leerink Partners began coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $330.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $358.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $337.89.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND) is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, acquires and licenses technologies intended to improve the development and commercialization of medicines. Rather than operating primarily as a traditional drug manufacturer, Ligand generally works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners, receiving licensing payments, royalties and other consideration tied to partnered products.

The company’s principal technology is Captisol, a modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain active pharmaceutical ingredients.