Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Sells $342,000.00 in Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director Martine Zimmermann sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.00, for a total value of $342,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,645. This trade represents a 23.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

LGND stock traded down $3.82 during trading on Monday, hitting $280.65. 158,772 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 269,812. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $294.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $252.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 31.18 and a quick ratio of 30.96. The company has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of 30.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.11. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $161.82 and a 1 year high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $63.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.30 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 20.06% and a net margin of 67.88%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LGND. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $326.00 price target (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup started coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $387.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright increased their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $289.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $335.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $75,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 118.9% during the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 243 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1,040.0% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 342 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 17,050.0% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 343 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, acquires and licenses technologies designed to help pharmaceutical companies discover, develop and commercialize medicines. Rather than focusing primarily on building a large portfolio of internally marketed drugs, Ligand operates an asset-light business model centered on partnerships, licensing agreements, royalties and other economic interests in partnered products.

The company’s principal technology is Captisol, a proprietary modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain drug compounds.