Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Issues FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) updated its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided EPS guidance of 8.000-9.000 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 4.850. The company issued revenue guidance of $245.0 million-$285.0 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $266.0 million.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $231.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $240.67.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ LGND traded up $4.41 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $195.80. The stock had a trading volume of 187,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 211,724. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.93. The company has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.59 and a beta of 1.14. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $93.58 and a 52-week 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.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.56. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 19.34%.The company had revenue of $59.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $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. Equities analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,804 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.31, for a total value of $339,711.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 26,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,931,085.66. The trade was 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 the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.91, for a total transaction of $91,489.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 43,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,460,765.17. The trade was a 1.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,205 shares of company stock valued at $611,192. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LGND. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 25.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,120 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $344,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,660 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,121,000 after buying an additional 809 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 9.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 55,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,817,000 after buying an additional 4,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 176.2% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 36,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,882,000 after buying an additional 23,553 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

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.