Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $245.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $244.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $231.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.50, for a total value of $93,633.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 42,720 shares in the company, valued at $8,565,360. This represents a 1.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 13,423 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.83, for a total transaction of $2,762,856.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,458,689.46. This trade represents a 38.26% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 24,915 shares of company stock worth $5,165,939 in the last 90 days. 7.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $2,789,955,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 749,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,232,000 after purchasing an additional 22,629 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 667,311 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $118,207,000 after purchasing an additional 19,370 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 59.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 541,845 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $95,982,000 after purchasing an additional 202,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 516,464 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $97,648,000 after buying an additional 138,169 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of LGND opened at $207.80 on Thursday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $93.58 and a fifty-two week high of $227.92. The company’s fifty day moving average is $196.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.79. The firm has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of 35.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 21.98, a current ratio of 22.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $59.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.59 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 46.42%.The company’s revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

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.