Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 8.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,456 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,219 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.21% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $4,254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,015,023 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $108,757,000 after purchasing an additional 5,929 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 642,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $67,575,000 after purchasing an additional 21,230 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the first quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 554,517 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $58,302,000 after purchasing an additional 2,929 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 289,052 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,972,000 after purchasing an additional 15,160 shares during the period. Finally, Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the first quarter. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC now owns 288,827 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,783 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on LGND. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $155.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $157.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $145.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $165.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 500 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.08, for a total value of $57,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,639,494.24. This trade represents a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Kozarich sold 934 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $116,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 46,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,807,000. This trade represents a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,401 shares of company stock valued at $292,648. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $161.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of -40.43 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $135.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.89. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $93.58 and a twelve month high of $163.34.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $47.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.87 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 9.21% and a negative net margin of 40.44%.Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.700-7.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children.