Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Stephen Sabba Sells 1,000 Shares

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Stephen Sabba sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.87, for a total value of $207,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 32,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,816,680.91. This trade represents a 2.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:LGND traded up $5.61 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $207.27. 42,303 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 222,736. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $197.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $191.55. The firm has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.61, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 21.98 and a current ratio of 22.23. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $93.58 and a 52-week high of $227.92.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.56. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 46.42%.The firm had revenue of $59.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 85.8% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 210 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LGND. Oppenheimer raised 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $231.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.86.

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.