Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Given New $243.00 Price Target at HC Wainwright

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) had its price target hoisted by HC Wainwright from $239.00 to $243.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Citigroup increased their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $244.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.43.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 8.9%

NASDAQ LGND opened at $232.34 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 39.85, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 22.23, a quick ratio of 21.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $98.89 and a 12 month high of $234.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $199.79 and a 200-day moving average of $195.47.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $59.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.59 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 46.42%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.24, for a total value of $1,006,200.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,327,713.68. This represents a 10.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.87, for a total value of $207,870.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 32,793 shares in the company, valued at $6,816,680.91. The trade was a 2.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 30,915 shares of company stock worth $6,385,917 in the last quarter. Insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 85.8% during the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 210 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors 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.