Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND Shares Sold by Chicago Capital LLC

Chicago Capital LLC lowered its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 568,611 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 3,214 shares during the quarter. Ligand Pharmaceuticals comprises about 2.5% of Chicago Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Chicago Capital LLC owned about 2.90% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $100,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 25.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,120 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,841 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $344,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,660 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 55,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,817,000 after acquiring an additional 4,926 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LGND. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 29th. Benchmark upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $206.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.33.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of LGND stock opened at $192.03 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 24.69 and a quick ratio of 24.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.09. The company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.77 and a beta of 0.97. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $93.58 and a 1-year high of $212.49.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $3.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $1.13. The business had revenue of $86.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.71 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 19.34% and a return on equity of 5.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 123.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.400-7.650 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.84, for a total transaction of $91,457.28. Following the sale, the director owned 44,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,640,656.64. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,804 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.31, for a total transaction of $339,711.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 26,186 shares in the company, valued at $4,931,085.66. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 2,738 shares of company stock worth $520,389 in the last 90 days. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.