Corient Private Wealth LP Boosts Stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Key Points

• Corient Private Wealth increased its Ligand Pharmaceuticals stake by 84.1% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 11,692 shares valued at approximately $3.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 91.28% of LGND.
• Ligand reported quarterly EPS of $2.37, exceeding the $1.97 analyst consensus, 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. However, insiders sold nearly 55,000 shares worth $16.1 million over the past quarter under pre-arranged trading plans.

Corient Private Wealth LP grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) by 84.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,692 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,342 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LP owned about 0.06% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $3,696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LGND. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1,040.0% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 342 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 17,050.0% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 343 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 114.5% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 354 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 77.1% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 418 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In related news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.09, for a total value of $1,430,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 31,641 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,088,893.76. This trade represents a 53.32% decrease in their position. 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 54,979 shares of company stock valued at $16,114,948 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $283.49 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $291.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $255.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 30.96 and a current ratio of 31.18. The firm has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.32, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.11. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $163.45 and a 1 year high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $63.69 million for 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 quarterly revenue was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LGND. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 14th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $387.00 target price for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $335.75.

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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