Brokerages Expect Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Will Post Earnings of $0.42 Per Share

Brokerages expect Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND – Get Rating) to announce earnings per share (EPS) of $0.42 for the current fiscal quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Two analysts have made estimates for Ligand Pharmaceuticals’ earnings. Ligand Pharmaceuticals posted earnings of $1.63 per share in the same quarter last year, which suggests a negative year over year growth rate of 74.2%. The business is expected to issue its next quarterly earnings report on Monday, January 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will report full-year earnings of $2.59 per share for the current year, with EPS estimates ranging from $2.20 to $2.97. For the next fiscal year, analysts forecast that the firm will post earnings of $3.79 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $3.20 to $4.38. Zacks’ earnings per share calculations are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side analysts that cover Ligand Pharmaceuticals.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $45.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.21 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 8.29% and a net margin of 9.00%. The business’s revenue was down 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $185.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 18th. Benchmark cut their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $180.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 22nd. Craig Hallum cut their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $215.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, May 5th. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals to $130.00 and set a “na” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 16th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.43.

Shares of NASDAQ:LGND opened at $81.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of 59.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.90. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $77.80 and a one year high of $169.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 5.88 and a current ratio of 6.48.

In other news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 908 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.62, for a total transaction of $93,178.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Matthew W. Foehr acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $82.76 per share, with a total value of $206,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 173,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,346,777.04. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 10.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 18.2% during the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 623 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 8,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 4,140 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.61% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile (Get Rating)

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing or acquiring technologies that help pharmaceutical companies to discover and develop medicines worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Veklury for the treatment of moderate or severe COVID-19; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children.

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