Ligand Pharmaceuticals’ (LGND) Buy Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $358.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

LGND has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $326.00 price target (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 3rd. 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, Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $330.00 price target for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $337.89.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.8%

LGND stock opened at $301.52 on Thursday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $166.10 and a twelve month high of $326.63. The company has a quick ratio of 30.96, a current ratio of 31.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 32.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $290.72 and a 200 day moving average of $258.33.

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

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.09, for a total value of $1,430,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 36,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,446,290.26. The trade was a 12.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jason Haas sold 7,138 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.81, for a total transaction of $2,090,077.78. Following the sale, the director owned 3,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,165,676.61. This represents a 64.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 54,979 shares of company stock valued at $16,114,948 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1,040.0% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 342 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 114.5% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 354 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 118.9% during the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 243 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Ligand Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New Barclays coverage: Barclays initiated coverage of Ligand with an “overweight” rating and a $345 price target, implying meaningful upside from the referenced price. The endorsement adds a new positive institutional view of Ligand’s royalty and drug-development platform.
• Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright remains bullish: The firm reaffirmed its “buy” rating and raised or maintained a $358 price target, indicating confidence in Ligand’s earnings outlook and partnered drug pipeline.
• Positive Sentiment: AvenCell financing expands pipeline exposure: Ligand agreed to provide up to $47 million to AvenCell Therapeutics to advance next-generation, controllable allogeneic CAR-T therapies for cancer. The transaction gives Ligand potential participation in an emerging cell-therapy platform and could create future royalty or milestone opportunities, although returns depend on clinical and commercial success. Ligand and AvenCell Therapeutics financing agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Additional positive analyst sentiment: Citigroup reportedly expects Ligand’s stock to rise, adding to the generally favorable analyst backdrop. Citigroup analyst outlook for Ligand Pharmaceuticals
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed healthcare-sector views: A broader analyst report describes conflicting sentiment across Amgen, Ligand and Compass Therapeutics; however, the specific recent ratings highlighted for Ligand are favorable. Analyst sentiment on healthcare companies
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data is unclear: A report described a large increase in short interest but listed total short interest at zero shares and a zero-day days-to-cover ratio, suggesting the data may be incomplete or anomalous rather than a meaningful trading signal.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, acquires and licenses technologies designed to help pharmaceutical companies discover, develop and commercialize medicines. Rather than focusing primarily on building a large portfolio of internally marketed drugs, Ligand operates an asset-light business model centered on partnerships, licensing agreements, royalties and other economic interests in partnered products.

The company’s principal technology is Captisol, a proprietary modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain drug compounds.