Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND Shares Sold by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS

Key Points

• Kornitzer Capital Management reduced its stake in Ligand by 33.8%, selling 30,825 shares and leaving it with 60,342 shares worth about $11.41 million per the latest 13F filing.
• Ligand beat expectations with Q EPS $2.02 vs. $1.46 est. and revenue up 39.5% year‑over‑year, and the company set FY2026 guidance of 8.00–9.00 EPS.
• Analysts have largely raised targets and maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with a $256.29 target price (seven Buys, one Hold), while insiders have sold roughly 30,915 shares (~$6.39M) in the last 90 days.

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lessened its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) by 33.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,342 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 30,825 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS owned 0.31% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $11,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 85.8% in the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 210 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LGND. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $235.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $243.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $256.29.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $227.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.01, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.20. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $98.89 and a one year high of $247.38. The company's fifty day moving average is $209.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $199.38. 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 (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $59.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.59 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 46.42% and a return on equity of 13.86%. The business's revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.27 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 3,057 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $687,825.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,010 shares in the company, valued at $4,727,250. This represents a 12.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.23, for a total value of $94,441.41. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 42,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,544,824.19. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,915 shares of company stock worth $6,385,917. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company 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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