Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) CFO Octavio Espinoza Sells 13,423 Shares

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 13,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.83, for a total transaction of $2,762,856.09. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,458,689.46. This represents a 38.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Octavio Espinoza also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, December 12th, Octavio Espinoza sold 1,804 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.31, for a total value of $339,711.24.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LGND opened at $201.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.63 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $194.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.15. The company has a quick ratio of 21.98, a current ratio of 22.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $93.58 and a twelve month high of $212.49.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. Research analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 25.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,120 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. 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. boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 8.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 809 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 55,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,817,000 after acquiring an additional 4,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 176.2% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 36,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,882,000 after purchasing an additional 23,553 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $231.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.