John Kozarich Sells 467 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director John Kozarich sold 467 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.84, for a total value of $91,457.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 44,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,640,656.64. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.1%

LGND traded down $2.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $193.03. The company had a trading volume of 218,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 163,670. The company has a quick ratio of 24.30, a current ratio of 24.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.25 and a beta of 0.99. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $93.58 and a 52 week high of $212.49.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $3.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $1.13. The business had revenue of $86.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.71 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 19.34% and a return on equity of 5.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 123.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.400-7.650 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,014 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 575 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 271 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,446 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $619,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LGND has been the subject of several analyst reports. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $206.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $185.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.33.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children.