Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Ligand Pharmaceuticals has been given a **"Moderate Buy"** consensus rating by analysts, with six out of seven firms recommending a buy and one firm issuing a sell rating.
• The average target price for Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock is **$176.50**, with recent target price increases from firms like Benchmark and Royal Bank of Canada.
• In the latest earnings report, Ligand Pharmaceuticals reported **$1.60 earnings per share**, exceeding estimates, and expects to post **1.73 EPS** for the current fiscal year.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $176.50.

LGND has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $155.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $167.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $177.73 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.43 and a beta of 0.95. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $163.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.09. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $93.58 and a twelve month high of $186.40.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.44, for a total value of $83,798.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 45,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,084,669.20. The trade was a 1.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jason Aryeh sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total transaction of $1,708,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director 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 90 days, insiders sold 11,401 shares of company stock valued at $1,929,262. Company insiders own 7.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Simplex Trading LLC purchased a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $61,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 68.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 593 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 745 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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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