State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 4,312 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Key Points

• State of Alaska Department of Revenue cut its Ligand Pharmaceuticals stake by 42.1%, selling 4,312 shares and retaining 5,921 shares valued at approximately $1.85 million.
• Ligand reported quarterly revenue of $63.69 million and earnings of $2.37 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue increased 33.8% year over year.
• Wall Street remains positive, with all 10 covering analysts rating the stock a Buy and setting a consensus price target of $337.89; however, insiders sold nearly $16.1 million of shares in the latest quarter.

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lowered its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) by 42.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,921 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 4,312 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $1,359,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 256.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 22,800 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $7,207,000 after purchasing an additional 16,406 shares during the period. Future Fund LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Future Fund LLC now owns 13,840 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,763,000 after acquiring an additional 4,560 shares in the last quarter. JW Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $1,264,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth about $690,000. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of LGND stock opened at $295.54 on Monday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $292.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 31.18, a quick ratio of 30.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $175.89 and a 1 year high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.40. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 67.88% and a return on equity of 20.06%. The business had revenue of $63.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $61.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 31,641 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,088,893.76. The trade was a 53.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.09, for a total transaction of $1,430,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 36,514 shares in the company, valued at $10,446,290.26. This represents a 12.04% 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. Insiders sold a total of 54,979 shares of company stock valued at $16,068,898 over the last quarter. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, September 25th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $345.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $358.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Leerink Partners began coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 14th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $397.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $337.89.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and licenses technologies and drug assets to pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners. Rather than operating primarily as a traditional commercial drug manufacturer, Ligand focuses on building a portfolio of royalty agreements, licensing arrangements and other partnerships that can generate payments when partnered products are developed, approved and sold.

The company's best-known technology is Captisol, a chemically modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain drug compounds.

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