Citigroup Inc. Trims Stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Citigroup Inc. lessened its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 27.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,387 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 8,287 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.11% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $3,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 749,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,232,000 after acquiring an additional 22,629 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 667,311 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $118,207,000 after purchasing an additional 19,370 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 59.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 541,845 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $95,982,000 after buying an additional 202,103 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 488,778 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,571,000 after buying an additional 24,326 shares during the period. Finally, Acuitas Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1,922.9% during the third quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC now owns 402,494 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $71,298,000 after buying an additional 382,597 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

LGND stock opened at $208.95 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $193.92 and a 200-day moving average of $186.68. The company has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.84 and a beta of 1.17. 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 Incorporated has a 12-month low of $93.58 and a 12-month high of $212.49.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.56. The firm 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%.Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on LGND. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $231.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.17.

Insider Activity

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.50, for a total transaction of $93,633.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 42,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,565,360. The trade was a 1.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,804 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.31, for a total transaction of $339,711.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 26,186 shares in the company, valued at $4,931,085.66. This represents 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 3,205 shares of company stock worth $613,369 over the last quarter. Insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

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.