Bank of New York Mellon Corp Purchases New Holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon purchased 131,068 Ligand Pharmaceuticals shares worth approximately $41.4 million, joining other institutions that increased or initiated positions. Institutional investors now own 91.28% of LGND.
• Analysts remain bullish, with multiple firms raising price targets; MarketBeat reports a consensus “Buy” rating and an average target of $335.75.
• Ligand exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.37 in EPS versus $1.97 expected and revenue of $63.69 million, up 33.8% year over year. However, insiders sold 71,976 shares worth roughly $20.1 million over the past three months.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 131,068 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $41,429,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.65% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 22.5% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 10,358 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,274,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Balefire LLC purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $330,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 681 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,840,000. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LGND has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright increased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $289.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, August 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 price objective for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $335.75.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of LGND opened at $280.49 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $297.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $244.93. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $160.05 and a fifty-two week high of $326.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a PE ratio of 30.00, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 30.96 and a current ratio of 31.18.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $63.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.30 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 67.88% and a return on equity of 20.06%. Ligand Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.99, for a total value of $1,444,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,514 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,997,130.86. The trade was a 10.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 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. This trade represents a 53.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 71,976 shares of company stock worth $20,075,721. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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