Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Price Target Raised to $235.00

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) had its price objective increased by Royal Bank Of Canada from $234.00 to $235.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on LGND. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $206.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

LGND stock opened at $189.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $192.43 and a 200-day moving average of $157.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.57 and a beta of 0.99. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $93.58 and a 12 month high of $212.49. The company has a current ratio of 24.69, a quick ratio of 24.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $3.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $1.13. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 19.34% and a return on equity of 5.71%. The business had revenue of $86.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.71 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 123.0% on a year-over-year basis. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.400-7.650 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.84, for a total transaction of $91,457.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 44,121 shares in the company, valued at $8,640,656.64. This represents a 1.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jason Aryeh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total transaction of $1,708,100.00. Following the sale, the director owned 69,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,835,254.09. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,401 shares of company stock valued at $1,972,576. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $2,789,955,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% in the third 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. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $360,000. Cim Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $254,000. Finally, Castleark Management LLC purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,457,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.