Fisher Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 108,926 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,860 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $19,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LGND. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 85.8% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 210 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $47,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 31.6% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 271 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplex Trading LLC bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $61,000. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.50, for a total value of $93,633.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 42,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,565,360. The trade was a 1.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,804 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.31, for a total transaction of $339,711.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 26,186 shares in the company, valued at $4,931,085.66. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 3,205 shares of company stock valued at $613,369 over the last three months. Insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LGND. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $231.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Six investment 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.17.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.3%

LGND opened at $208.95 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 21.98 and a current ratio of 22.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $193.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.68. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $93.58 and a one year high of $212.49. The stock has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.84 and a beta of 1.17.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $59.67 million during 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%.Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company 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.