TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Buys New Shares in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Key Points

• TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased 19,625 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth approximately $6.1 million, while institutional investors collectively own 91.28% of the company.
• Analysts remain bullish: nine analysts rate Ligand a “Buy,” with an average price target of $335.75; several firms recently raised their targets to between $326 and $388.
• Ligand beat quarterly expectations, reporting $2.37 in EPS versus a $1.97 consensus estimate and revenue of $63.69 million, up 33.8% year over year. However, insiders sold 66,976 shares worth about $18.9 million during the last quarter.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 19,625 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $6,122,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. owned 0.10% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,009,891 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $201,623,000 after buying an additional 14,491 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 749,754 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $85,232,000 after buying an additional 22,629 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 516,464 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $97,648,000 after acquiring an additional 138,169 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $93,809,000 after acquiring an additional 266,304 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 493,589 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $93,336,000 after acquiring an additional 19,400 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jason Haas sold 7,138 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.81, for a total transaction of $2,090,077.78. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,981 shares in the company, valued at $1,165,676.61. The trade was a 64.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.99, for a total transaction of $1,444,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,514 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,997,130.86. The trade was a 10.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold a total of 66,976 shares of company stock valued at $18,940,421 over the last quarter. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $289.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $326.00 target price (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $335.75.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LGND opened at $285.60 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $297.84 and its 200 day moving average is $248.92. The company has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 30.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 31.18 and a quick ratio of 30.96. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $161.82 and a 1 year high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.40. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 20.06% and a net margin of 67.88%.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 business posted $1.60 EPS. The business'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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.29 EPS for the current year.

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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