Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock Has Average Price Target of $337.89

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $337.89.

A number of brokerages have commented on LGND. Leerink Partners started coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $330.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $397.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Jason Haas sold 7,138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.81, for a total transaction of $2,090,077.78. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,165,676.61. This trade represents a 64.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 31,641 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.06, for a total value of $9,241,070.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,088,893.76. The trade was a 53.32% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,979 shares of company stock worth $16,068,898. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 118.9% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 243 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. GK Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $122,000. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 14,166.7% during the second quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 428 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LGND opened at $303.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 30.96, a current ratio of 31.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $293.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $272.61. The company has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a PE ratio of 32.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.14. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $175.89 and a fifty-two week high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.40. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 20.06% and a net margin of 67.88%. The business had revenue of $63.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

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.