Key Points
- Ligand Pharmaceuticals insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares for approximately $1.52 million at an average price of $304.07 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his ownership by 13.57%.
- Ligand reported quarterly earnings of $2.37 per share, beating estimates of $1.97, while revenue rose 33.8% year over year to $63.69 million.
- Analysts remain broadly bullish, with the stock carrying a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $337.89; institutional investors own 91.28% of the company.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.07, for a total value of $1,520,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,685,845.78. The trade was a 13.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Andrew Reardon also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Thursday, September 3rd, Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.09, for a total transaction of $1,430,450.00.
- On Monday, August 3rd, Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.99, for a total transaction of $1,444,950.00.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance
NASDAQ LGND opened at $296.94 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $291.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $263.40. The firm has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.76, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 31.18 and a quick ratio of 30.96. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $175.89 and a 1 year high of $326.63.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.40. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 67.88% and a return on equity of 20.06%. The business had revenue of $63.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $61.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,359,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $93,809,000 after buying an additional 266,304 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 265.4% during the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 117,432 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $22,204,000 after buying an additional 85,297 shares during the last quarter. Future Fund LLC boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Future Fund LLC now owns 13,840 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,763,000 after buying an additional 4,560 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 256.6% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 22,800 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $7,207,000 after acquiring an additional 16,406 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LGND shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised 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. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $397.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $326.00 price target (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, September 25th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $345.00 price target on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $337.89.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on LGND
About Ligand Pharmaceuticals
(
Get Free Report)
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and licenses technologies and drug assets to pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners. Rather than operating primarily as a traditional commercial drug manufacturer, Ligand focuses on building a portfolio of royalty agreements, licensing arrangements and other partnerships that can generate payments when partnered products are developed, approved and sold.
The company's best-known technology is Captisol, a chemically modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain drug compounds.
See Also
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].
