Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Ligand Pharmaceuticals shares reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $183.81 and last at $182.37, driven by an increase in stock ratings from analysts with several upgrades to "buy" and increased price targets.
• The latest earnings report revealed that Ligand Pharmaceuticals exceeded analysts' earnings expectations with $1.60 earnings per share and a revenue increase of 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year.
• Insiders sold a total of 12,335 shares in the last quarter, indicating potential profit-taking amidst significant institutional ownership of 91.28% of the stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $183.81 and last traded at $182.37, with a volume of 2763 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $180.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LGND has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of 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 reiterated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $157.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $155.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $176.50.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.84 and a beta of 0.95. The business's fifty day moving average is $158.83 and its 200 day moving average is $127.55.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $47.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $43.87 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.44% and a negative return on equity of 9.21%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.700-7.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Jason Aryeh sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 69,289 shares in the company, valued at $11,835,254.09. This trade represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John W. Kozarich sold 934 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $116,750.00. Following the sale, the director owned 46,456 shares in the company, valued at $5,807,000. This represents a 1.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,335 shares of company stock valued at $2,046,012 in the last quarter. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 12.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 575 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,446 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. increased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 3,518 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodstock Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 29,497 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,353,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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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