Impax Asset Management Group plc Sells 35,000 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Key Points

• Impax Asset Management sold 35,000 LGND shares (a 17.5% reduction), leaving it with 165,208 shares—about 0.84% of the company—valued at roughly $31.24 million.
• Strong quarterly results: Ligand reported $2.02 EPS vs $1.46 expected and revenue of $59.67M (+39.5% y/y), and set FY2026 guidance of 8.00–9.00 EPS.
• Active insider/institutional activity: insiders sold 30,915 shares (~$6.39M) last quarter while institutional ownership is 91.28%; analysts are mostly bullish with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.29.

Impax Asset Management Group plc decreased its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) by 17.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 165,208 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 35,000 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned approximately 0.84% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $31,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,915 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $5,653,000 after purchasing an additional 4,538 shares during the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,585,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 59.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 541,845 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $95,982,000 after purchasing an additional 202,103 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 42.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 108,424 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $19,416,000 after purchasing an additional 32,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lisanti Capital Growth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 178.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC now owns 29,677 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $5,257,000 after purchasing an additional 19,002 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:LGND opened at $231.27 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $206.18 and its 200-day moving average is $197.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 21.98 and a current ratio of 22.23. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $98.89 and a 52 week high of $238.31. The firm has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.14.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.56. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 46.42% and a return on equity of 13.86%. The company had revenue of $59.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.24, for a total transaction of $1,006,200.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,382 shares in the company, valued at $8,327,713.68. This represents a 10.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 3,057 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $687,825.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,727,250. This represents a 12.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 30,915 shares of company stock worth $6,385,917 in the last quarter. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $244.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $239.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.29.

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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