Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $206.3333.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LGND. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $185.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.05, for a total value of $89,220.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 44,588 shares in the company, valued at $8,518,537.40. This represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jason Aryeh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $1,708,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 69,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,835,254.09. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,934 shares of company stock worth $1,881,119. 7.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LGND. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 85.8% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 210 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 271 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.1%

LGND stock opened at $196.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $189.99 and a 200-day moving average of $153.08. The company has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.24 and a beta of 0.91. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $93.58 and a 12-month high of $212.49.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $3.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $1.13. The business had revenue of $86.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.71 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 9.21% and a negative net margin of 40.44%.The company’s revenue was up 123.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.400-7.650 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children.