Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Citigroup from $276.00 to $282.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target points to a potential upside of 26.32% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on LGND. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $239.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $244.00 target price on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.29.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.8%

Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $223.24 on Wednesday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $98.89 and a twelve month high of $234.76. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $200.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.87. The company has a current ratio of 22.23, a quick ratio of 21.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.14.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.56. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 46.42%.The firm had revenue of $59.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 3,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $687,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,727,250. This represents a 12.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.87, for a total transaction of $207,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 32,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,816,680.91. This represents a 2.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,915 shares of company stock valued at $6,385,917. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,561 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $284,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 516,464 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $97,648,000 after purchasing an additional 138,169 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,417 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,459,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.