Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Sells 50,271 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 554,542 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 50,271 shares during the quarter. Ligand Pharmaceuticals comprises approximately 1.3% of Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned about 2.83% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $98,232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ranger Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 57.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 300,025 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,107,000 after purchasing an additional 109,935 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 42.6% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 108,424 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $19,416,000 after purchasing an additional 32,379 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 13.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,858 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $26,130,000 after buying an additional 27,030 shares during the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $4,585,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 488,778 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,571,000 after buying an additional 24,326 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $206.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.33.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.6%

LGND stock opened at $192.97 on Friday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $93.58 and a twelve month high of $212.49. 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 company has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 93.22 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $196.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $172.54.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted 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. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 19.34%.The firm had revenue of $86.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.71 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 123.0% on a year-over-year basis. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.400-7.650 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.58, for a total value of $88,533.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 43,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,275,925.32. This represents a 1.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,804 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 26,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,931,085.66. This trade represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,205 shares of company stock valued at $608,923. 7.00% of the stock is owned by company 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.