Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Director John Kozarich Sells 467 Shares of Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director John Kozarich sold 467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.50, for a total transaction of $93,633.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 42,720 shares in the company, valued at $8,565,360. This trade represents a 1.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 4.5%

LGND traded down $9.31 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $199.64. 139,827 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 209,576. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 21.98 and a current ratio of 22.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.24 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.68. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $93.58 and a one year high of $212.49.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $59.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.59 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 46.42% and a return on equity of 13.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LGND. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. HC Wainwright increased 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, February 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Benchmark boosted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.17.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,915 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,653,000 after purchasing an additional 4,538 shares during the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $4,585,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake 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. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 667,311 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $118,207,000 after buying an additional 19,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 42.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 108,424 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $19,416,000 after acquiring an additional 32,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

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.