Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND Position Decreased by Blair William & Co. IL

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 16.6% in Q2, now holding 7,701 shares worth $875,000.
• The company recently reported an EPS of $1.60, beating expectations, with revenues of $47.63 million, an increase of 14.7% year-over-year.
• Multiple analysts upgraded their price targets for Ligand Pharmaceuticals, with HC Wainwright raising theirs from $157 to $206, maintaining a "buy" rating.

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,701 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 1,533 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at about $16,526,000. CenterBook Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 190.2% in the first quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 68,299 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $7,181,000 after purchasing an additional 44,760 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth approximately $4,657,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 41.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 135,365 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $14,232,000 after purchasing an additional 39,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 22.3% in the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 216,241 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $22,736,000 after purchasing an additional 39,481 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of LGND stock opened at $180.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.19 and a beta of 0.95. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $93.58 and a one year high of $186.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $167.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.83.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LGND has been the topic of a number of research reports. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $157.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $155.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $167.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Benchmark increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 45,055 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,084,669.20. This trade represents a 1.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jason Aryeh sold 10,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals 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 directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,401 shares of company stock valued at $1,929,262. 7.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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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