Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Earns “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $358.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price target suggests a potential upside of 19.72% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $326.00 target price (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, 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 target price for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $337.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

LGND stock traded up $0.63 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $299.04. 209,344 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 269,483. The company has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 31.18, a quick ratio of 30.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $290.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $257.34. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $163.45 and a one year high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $63.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.30 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 67.88% and a return on equity of 20.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 31,641 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.06, for a total value of $9,241,070.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,088,893.76. The trade was a 53.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.09, for a total value of $1,430,450.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,446,290.26. This trade represents a 12.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 54,979 shares of company stock worth $16,114,948 in the last three months. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LGND. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 681 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,484 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Ligand Pharmaceuticals News

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

• Positive Sentiment: New AvenCell financing agreement: Ligand agreed to provide up to $47 million to AvenCell Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing controllable, allogeneic CAR-T therapies for cancer. The transaction gives Ligand potential exposure to AvenCell’s next-generation cell-therapy pipeline and may strengthen its future royalty and milestone portfolio. Ligand and AvenCell Therapeutics Financing Agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Ryjunea royalty acquisition: Ligand agreed to pay Sydnexis $23 million for royalty and milestone interests tied to Santen’s Ryjunea eye drug in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The deal adds another potential revenue stream and further diversifies Ligand’s royalty portfolio. Ligand Acquires Royalty and Milestone Interest in Ryjunea
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong: HC Wainwright reaffirmed its Buy rating and set a $358 price target, while Citigroup raised its target to $397 from $390 and maintained a Buy rating. The targets imply meaningful upside based on the referenced market price.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data: Reported short interest was zero shares as of September 24, with a zero-day days-to-cover ratio. This suggests limited evidence of short-selling pressure or a short-covering catalyst, although the figure may reflect reporting or data-quality limitations.
• Neutral Sentiment: The new investments could enhance long-term growth, but AvenCell remains clinical-stage, making future returns dependent on development, regulatory and commercialization outcomes.

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.