Bank of America Corp DE Raises Holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Key Points

• Bank of America increased its Ligand Pharmaceuticals stake by 31.4% in the first quarter, reaching 157,865 shares valued at approximately $31.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 91.28% of the company.
• Wall Street remains bullish: analysts have assigned a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $335.75, while several firms recently raised their targets to between $330 and $388.
• 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 stock opened at $294.60, near its 52-week high of $326.63, although insiders sold 71,976 shares worth about $20.1 million during the quarter.

Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) by 31.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 157,865 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 37,696 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.79% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $31,518,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,009,891 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $201,623,000 after buying an additional 14,491 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,555 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 23,784 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,748,000 after acquiring an additional 4,987 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 111,543 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $22,270,000 after acquiring an additional 2,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $507,000. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup began coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $387.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $335.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 31,641 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $8,088,893.76. This represents a 53.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jason Aryeh sold 4,500 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $1,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 102,580 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,645,000. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 71,976 shares of company stock valued at $20,075,721. Insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:LGND opened at $294.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a current ratio of 31.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $291.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $238.57. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $149.51 and a 52-week high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $63.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $61.30 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 20.06% and a net margin of 67.88%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal 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.

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