Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC Sells 77,498 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 27.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 202,452 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 77,498 shares during the quarter. Ligand Pharmaceuticals comprises about 3.8% of Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC owned about 1.03% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $38,278,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 85.8% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 210 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals 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 sale, the director directly owned 42,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,544,824.19. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.24, for a total value of $1,006,200.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,327,713.68. The trade was a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 30,915 shares of company stock valued at $6,385,917 in the last three months. 7.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LGND. Citigroup lifted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen cut Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 29th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $239.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.29.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of LGND opened at $226.87 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $204.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.43. The stock has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a PE ratio of 38.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.14. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $98.89 and a 12 month high of $238.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 22.23 and a quick ratio of 21.98.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $59.67 million for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.