Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) reached a new 52-week high at $186.48, driven by positive analyst upgrades, including a target price increase from Oppenheimer to $190.00.
• The company reported earnings of $1.60 per share for the recent quarter, exceeding estimates, and announced a revenue increase of 14.7% year-over-year.
• Insider trading activity has seen significant sales, with directors selling over 11,000 shares and institutional investors holding approximately 91.28% of the company's stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $186.48 and last traded at $185.84, with a volume of 8337 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $167.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. HC Wainwright upped 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. Benchmark upped 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $176.50.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.1%

The company has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of -46.29 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $166.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $131.31.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.06. The company 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 in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.700-7.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 45,055 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,084,669.20. This represents a 1.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jason Aryeh sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $11,835,254.09. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,401 shares of company stock valued at $1,929,262 over the last 90 days. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Maseco LLP bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Simplex Trading LLC bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $61,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 68.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 593 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 745 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1,289.2% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

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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