Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND Shares Newly Bought by Kings Path Partners LLC

Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 3,960 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,237,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 681 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Cim Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,484 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. 1492 Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $397.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Barclays started coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $345.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Bank of America raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $337.89.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.7%

LGND stock opened at $314.78 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $293.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.15. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $175.89 and a twelve month high of $326.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.28 billion, a PE ratio of 33.67, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 30.96, a current ratio of 31.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.09, for a total transaction of $1,430,450.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 36,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,446,290.26. This represents a 12.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Martine Zimmermann sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.00, for a total transaction of $342,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,897 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,645. This trade represents a 23.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 54,979 shares of company stock worth $16,068,898 in the last three months. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.