California State Teachers Retirement System Has $6.97 Million Stock Holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

California State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,053 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 1,731 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.11% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $6,970,733 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LGND. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $6,122,000. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $273,000. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $81,424,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $41,429,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Jason Haas sold 7,138 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.81, for a total value of $2,090,077.78. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,165,676.61. This trade represents a 64.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 31,641 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.06, for a total transaction of $9,241,070.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,696 shares in the company, valued at $8,088,893.76. This trade represents 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,979 shares of company stock worth $16,114,948. Insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LGND shares. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $387.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $289.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $335.75.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LGND traded down $8.94 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $271.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 79,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 268,705. The business's fifty day moving average is $294.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $253.12. 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 cap of $5.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.05, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.11. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $163.10 and a 1 year high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 20.06% and a net margin of 67.88%.The company had revenue of $63.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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