Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Director John Kozarich Sells 467 Shares

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Director John Kozarich sold 467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.23, for a total transaction of $94,441.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 42,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,544,824.19. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.0%

LGND stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $199.59. The company had a trading volume of 221,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 225,031. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $197.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.81. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $93.58 and a 12 month high of $227.92. The company has a quick ratio of 21.98, a current ratio of 22.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.14.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released 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. The company had revenue of $59.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.59 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 46.42%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.27 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 25.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,120 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $344,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 8.2% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,660 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 55,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,817,000 after buying an additional 4,926 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 176.2% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 36,922 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,882,000 after buying an additional 23,553 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on LGND. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. 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 report on Friday, February 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $244.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.86.

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.