4,300 Shares in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND Bought by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 4,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,359,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LGND. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 29,208.5% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 6,970,733 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,203,379,000 after buying an additional 6,946,949 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $93,809,000 after acquiring an additional 266,304 shares during the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $81,424,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 64.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 378,295 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $67,011,000 after acquiring an additional 148,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 385,028.9% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 146,349 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,670,000 after acquiring an additional 146,311 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Jason Haas sold 7,138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $1,165,676.61. This trade represents a 64.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 31,641 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,088,893.76. The trade was a 53.32% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,924 shares of company stock worth $16,317,778. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on LGND shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $326.00 price target (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $387.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $335.75.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:LGND opened at $284.47 on Friday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $161.82 and a 52-week high of $326.63. The stock has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $294.94 and its 200 day moving average is $252.00. The company has a quick ratio of 30.96, a current ratio of 31.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $63.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 posted $1.60 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.29 EPS for the current year.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.