Baird Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group reduced its Ligand Pharmaceuticals stake by 34.1% in the second quarter, selling 4,431 shares and retaining 8,550 shares valued at approximately $2.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 91.28% of LGND.
• Ligand reported quarterly EPS of $2.37, beating estimates of $1.97, while revenue rose 33.8% year over year to $63.69 million. The company issued fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $9.00–$9.50.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with nine analysts rating the stock a Buy and a consensus price target of $335.75, although insiders sold nearly $16.1 million in shares over the past three months.

Baird Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) by 34.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,550 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 4,431 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LGND. Legato Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 26,241 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,961,000 after buying an additional 9,944 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $93,809,000 after acquiring an additional 266,304 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 265.4% in the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 117,432 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $22,204,000 after purchasing an additional 85,297 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 130,858 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $24,741,000 after purchasing an additional 21,932 shares during the period. Finally, Future Fund LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $1,755,000. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:LGND opened at $275.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 31.18, a quick ratio of 30.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.43, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $292.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $254.28. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $163.45 and a 12-month high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $63.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.30 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 20.06% and a net margin of 67.88%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.60 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.29 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LGND has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $387.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $289.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $335.75.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Martine Zimmermann sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.00, for a total value of $342,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,897 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,110,645. This trade represents a 23.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.09, for a total transaction of $1,430,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,514 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,446,290.26. This trade represents a 12.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 54,979 shares of company stock worth $16,114,948 over the last three months. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, acquires and licenses technologies designed to help pharmaceutical companies discover, develop and commercialize medicines. Rather than focusing primarily on building a large portfolio of internally marketed drugs, Ligand operates an asset-light business model centered on partnerships, licensing agreements, royalties and other economic interests in partnered products.

The company's principal technology is Captisol, a proprietary modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain drug compounds.

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