Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) had its target price boosted by stock analysts at Citigroup from $270.00 to $276.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 34.92% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 29th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $231.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.86.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.4%

Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $204.56 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 21.98 and a current ratio of 22.23. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $93.58 and a fifty-two week high of $227.92. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $197.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.64.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.56. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 46.42%.The firm had revenue of $59.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 2,034 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $409,851.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 33,793 shares in the company, valued at $6,809,289.50. The trade was a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.35, for a total value of $1,031,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 36,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,607,918.15. This trade represents a 11.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,915 shares of company stock worth $5,373,809. Company insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,561 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $284,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 516,464 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $97,648,000 after purchasing an additional 138,169 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments lifted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,417 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $1,459,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

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.