Key Points
- Octavio Espinoza, Ligand's CFO, sold 3,057 shares on March 11 at $225 each for $687,825, cutting his stake by 12.7% to 21,010 shares (he also sold 13,423 shares on March 4 at about $205.83).
- Ligand posted a strong quarterly beat with EPS $2.02 vs. $1.46 expected and revenue of $59.7M (up 39.5%), and issued an aggressive FY2026 guidance of $8.00–$9.00 EPS.
- Analysts are generally positive—MarketBeat shows an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $245 (seven Buys, one Hold), and several firms recently raised targets or initiated coverage.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 3,057 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $687,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,727,250. The trade was a 12.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.
Octavio Espinoza also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Wednesday, March 4th, Octavio Espinoza sold 13,423 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.83, for a total transaction of $2,762,856.09.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance
Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $202.91 on Friday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $93.58 and a fifty-two week high of $227.92. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $196.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $189.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 21.98 and a current ratio of 22.23. The stock has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.80, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.17.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $59.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.59 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 46.42%.The business's revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $244.00 price objective on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $245.00.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Ligand Pharmaceuticals
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals
Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,915 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $5,653,000 after purchasing an additional 4,538 shares during the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,585,000. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 667,311 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $118,207,000 after purchasing an additional 19,370 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 59.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 541,845 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $95,982,000 after purchasing an additional 202,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 42.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 108,424 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $19,416,000 after purchasing an additional 32,379 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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