Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) have received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $176.50.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LGND shares. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $167.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $157.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $155.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $170.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.69 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $151.68 and its 200 day moving average is $123.37. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $93.58 and a 1 year high of $172.45.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $47.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.87 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.44% and a negative return on equity of 9.21%. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.700-7.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $116,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 46,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,807,000. This represents a 1.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,868 shares of company stock worth $254,113. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,446 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $619,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 3,518 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 745 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Woodstock Corp grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 29,497 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,353,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 5,184 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $589,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children.