Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts unanimously rate Ligand Pharmaceuticals “Buy.” All nine analysts covering the stock recommend buying it, with an average 12-month price target of $335.75.
• Ligand reported quarterly EPS of $2.37, exceeding the $1.97 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 33.8% year over year to $63.69 million. The company issued fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $9.00–$9.50.
• Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company and several funds increased their holdings, although insiders sold approximately $18.9 million worth of shares over the past three months.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $335.75.

Several research analysts have recently commented on LGND shares. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, August 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $326.00 price target (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.9%

LGND stock opened at $286.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 31.18 and a quick ratio of 30.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.69, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.11. The business's fifty day moving average price is $298.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.46. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $161.82 and a fifty-two week high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.40. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 67.88% and a return on equity of 20.06%. The company had revenue of $63.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $61.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 2,145 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.00, for a total transaction of $544,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,629 shares in the company, valued at $8,541,766. The trade was a 6.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 31,641 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 $8,088,893.76. The trade was a 53.32% 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 have sold a total of 66,976 shares of company stock worth $18,940,421 in the last three months. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 25.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,120 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $344,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 8.2% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,660 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 9.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 55,327 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $5,817,000 after acquiring an additional 4,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 176.2% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 36,922 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,882,000 after acquiring an additional 23,553 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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