Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $245.00.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LGND. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $231.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $221.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.95 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $195.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.57. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $93.58 and a fifty-two week high of $227.92. The company has a quick ratio of 21.98, a current ratio of 22.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its 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 net margin of 46.42% and a return on equity of 13.86%. The firm had revenue of $59.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 2,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $409,851.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,793 shares in the company, valued at $6,809,289.50. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 13,423 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.83, for a total transaction of $2,762,856.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,458,689.46. This trade represents a 38.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 23,662 shares of company stock worth $4,817,826 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LGND. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,014 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 2,872 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 12.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 575 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 31.6% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 271 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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.