Andrew Reardon Sells 5,000 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.35, for a total transaction of $1,031,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 36,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,607,918.15. The trade was a 11.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $4.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $201.90. 188,625 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 212,053. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $93.58 and a fifty-two week high of $212.49. The company has a quick ratio of 21.98, a current ratio of 22.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $194.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.63 and a beta of 1.17.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.56. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 46.42%.The company had revenue of $59.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,789,955,000. State Street Corp increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 667,311 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $118,207,000 after purchasing an additional 19,370 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 59.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 541,845 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $95,982,000 after buying an additional 202,103 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 36.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LGND shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. HC Wainwright increased their price target 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, Citigroup started coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.17.

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.