Ligand Pharmaceuticals’ (LGND) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at HC Wainwright

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at HC Wainwright in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $358.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 18.73% from the company’s current price.

LGND has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $330.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $326.00 price objective (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $397.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $337.89.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ LGND traded up $2.48 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $301.52. The stock had a trading volume of 305,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 269,685. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $290.75 and a 200 day moving average of $258.03. The stock has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.11. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $166.10 and a 52-week high of $326.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 30.96 and a current ratio of 31.18.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $63.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.30 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 20.06% and a net margin of 67.88%.Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jason Haas sold 7,138 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.81, for a total transaction of $2,090,077.78. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,981 shares in the company, valued at $1,165,676.61. This trade represents a 64.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 31,641 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.06, for a total value of $9,241,070.46. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 27,696 shares in the company, valued at $8,088,893.76. This trade represents a 53.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,979 shares of company stock worth $16,114,948. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $93,809,000 after purchasing an additional 266,304 shares in the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $81,424,000. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $24,813,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,429,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 265.4% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 117,432 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $22,204,000 after purchasing an additional 85,297 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Ligand Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New Barclays coverage: Barclays initiated coverage of Ligand with an “overweight” rating and a $345 price target, implying meaningful upside from the referenced price. The endorsement adds a new positive institutional view of Ligand’s royalty and drug-development platform.
• Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright remains bullish: The firm reaffirmed its “buy” rating and raised or maintained a $358 price target, indicating confidence in Ligand’s earnings outlook and partnered drug pipeline.
• Positive Sentiment: AvenCell financing expands pipeline exposure: Ligand agreed to provide up to $47 million to AvenCell Therapeutics to advance next-generation, controllable allogeneic CAR-T therapies for cancer. The transaction gives Ligand potential participation in an emerging cell-therapy platform and could create future royalty or milestone opportunities, although returns depend on clinical and commercial success. Ligand and AvenCell Therapeutics financing agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Additional positive analyst sentiment: Citigroup reportedly expects Ligand’s stock to rise, adding to the generally favorable analyst backdrop. Citigroup analyst outlook for Ligand Pharmaceuticals
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed healthcare-sector views: A broader analyst report describes conflicting sentiment across Amgen, Ligand and Compass Therapeutics; however, the specific recent ratings highlighted for Ligand are favorable. Analyst sentiment on healthcare companies
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data is unclear: A report described a large increase in short interest but listed total short interest at zero shares and a zero-day days-to-cover ratio, suggesting the data may be incomplete or anomalous rather than a meaningful trading signal.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, acquires and licenses technologies designed to help pharmaceutical companies discover, develop and commercialize medicines. Rather than focusing primarily on building a large portfolio of internally marketed drugs, Ligand operates an asset-light business model centered on partnerships, licensing agreements, royalties and other economic interests in partnered products.

The company’s principal technology is Captisol, a proprietary modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain drug compounds.