Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $498,000 Stock Position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 50.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,811 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 2,859 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LGND. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 749,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,232,000 after acquiring an additional 22,629 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. grew 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 during the period. Chicago Capital LLC increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 571,825 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $65,005,000 after purchasing an additional 17,308 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 488,778 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,571,000 after buying an additional 24,326 shares during the period. Finally, Ashford Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the second quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc. now owns 302,527 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $34,391,000 after buying an additional 4,492 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $203.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 24.69 and a quick ratio of 24.30. The business has a 50-day moving average of $196.24 and a 200-day moving average of $174.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.46 and a beta of 0.97. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $93.58 and a fifty-two week high of $212.49.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $1.13. The firm had revenue of $86.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.71 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 19.34%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 123.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 29th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $206.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,804 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.31, for a total transaction of $339,711.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 26,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,931,085.66. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.58, for a total transaction of $88,533.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 43,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,275,925.32. This trade represents a 1.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,205 shares of company stock worth $608,923. 7.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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.