HC Wainwright Has Bearish Estimate for LGND FY2026 Earnings

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) – Research analysts at HC Wainwright lowered their FY2026 EPS estimates for shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report released on Thursday, October 29th. HC Wainwright analyst J. Pantginis now forecasts that the biotechnology company will post earnings per share of $2.88 for the year, down from their previous estimate of $5.02. HC Wainwright currently has a “Buy” rating and a $358.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Ligand Pharmaceuticals’ current full-year earnings is $5.25 per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Ligand Pharmaceuticals’ Q4 2026 earnings at $2.50 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $7.15 EPS.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $78.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.00 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 5.22%. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was down 31.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.09 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also commented on LGND. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Leerink Partners began coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $330.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $326.00 price target (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $345.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $397.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $339.22.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $316.13 on Thursday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $175.89 and a fifty-two week high of $326.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 30.96. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $298.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $254.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LGND. Lido Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 2,809 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $877,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 52,094 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,771,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 1,002 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $244,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,784 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Jason Aryeh sold 1,411 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.24, for a total value of $451,858.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 109,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,052,829.92. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.07, for a total transaction of $1,520,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 31,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,685,845.78. This trade represents a 13.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 57,090 shares of company stock worth $16,866,208 over the last ninety days. 5.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND) is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, acquires and licenses technologies intended to improve the development and commercialization of medicines. Rather than operating primarily as a traditional drug manufacturer, Ligand generally works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners, receiving licensing payments, royalties and other consideration tied to partnered products.

The company’s principal technology is Captisol, a modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain active pharmaceutical ingredients.