Equitable Trust Co. Acquires 1,710 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Key Points

• Equitable Trust Co. increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 37.7%, acquiring an additional 1,710 shares, bringing its total ownership to 6,245 shares valued at approximately $710,000.
• Insider transactions included Director John W. Kozarich selling 467 shares for about $83,798 and Jason Aryeh selling 10,000 shares for approximately $1.7 million.
• Ligand Pharmaceuticals reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.60, surpassing estimates and showing a 14.7% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Equitable Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) by 37.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,245 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.'s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maseco LLP bought a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 68.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 593 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 745 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1,289.2% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the period. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.44, for a total transaction of $83,798.48. Following the transaction, the director owned 45,055 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,084,669.20. The trade was a 1.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jason Aryeh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $1,708,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 69,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,835,254.09. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,401 shares of company stock worth $1,929,262. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company's stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ LGND opened at $183.30 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.83 and a beta of 0.95. The business's 50 day moving average price is $166.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.31. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $93.58 and a fifty-two week high of $186.40.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $47.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.87 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 9.21% and a negative net margin of 40.44%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.700-7.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on LGND shares. Benchmark raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $167.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $155.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $176.50.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children.

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