Key Points
- Insider sale: Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares on April 1 at an average price of $201.24 (~$1.006M), cutting his position by 10.78% to 41,382 shares; the sale was made under a pre‑arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plan and follows a similar 5,000‑share sale on March 4.
- Company performance: Ligand beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $2.02 (vs. $1.46 est.) and revenue of $59.67M, set FY‑2026 guidance at $8.00–$9.00 EPS, and carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $245.86 price target.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) Director John Kozarich sold 467 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.23, for a total transaction of $94,441.41. Following the transaction, the director owned 42,253 shares in the company, valued at $8,544,824.19. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:LGND opened at $199.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 22.23 and a quick ratio of 21.98. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $93.58 and a 12 month high of $227.92. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $197.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $192.81.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $55.59 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 85.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $245.86.
View Our Latest Report on LGND
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.
Recommended Stories
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from InsiderTrades.com in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
