Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND Shares Sold by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. trimmed its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 27.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,387 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 8,287 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,788,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LGND. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 16.6% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,915 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,653,000 after acquiring an additional 4,538 shares during the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $4,585,000. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 667,311 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $118,207,000 after purchasing an additional 19,370 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 59.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 541,845 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $95,982,000 after purchasing an additional 202,103 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 42.6% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 108,424 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $19,416,000 after purchasing an additional 32,379 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.17.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.50, for a total transaction of $93,633.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 42,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,565,360. The trade was a 1.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,804 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.31, for a total value of $339,711.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 26,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,931,085.66. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,205 shares of company stock worth $613,369. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of LGND stock opened at $208.95 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 21.98, a current ratio of 22.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $93.58 and a fifty-two week high of $212.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $193.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.68. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $59.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.59 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 46.42% and a return on equity of 13.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.27 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current 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.