Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Ligand Pharmaceuticals' stock reached a new 52-week high at $162.83 following an analyst upgrade by HC Wainwright, which raised its price target from $157.00 to $206.00.
• Six equities research analysts currently rate Ligand Pharmaceuticals with a Buy rating and a consensus target price of $165.17, reflecting positive sentiment towards the stock.
• Insider trading activity included sales from key executives, where insider Andrew Reardon sold 500 shares at an average price of $114.08, reducing his position by 1.54%.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after HC Wainwright raised their price target on the stock from $157.00 to $206.00. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ligand Pharmaceuticals traded as high as $162.83 and last traded at $162.18, with a volume of 45919 shares. The stock had previously closed at $159.96.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on LGND. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $145.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $155.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $165.17.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 934 shares of the 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 transaction, the director owned 46,456 shares in the company, valued at $5,807,000. This represents a 1.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.08, for a total value of $57,040.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,639,494.24. This trade represents a 1.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,401 shares of company stock worth $292,648. 7.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,446 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. CWC Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% during the second 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 period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 14.1% during the second 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 during the period. Woodstock Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the second quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 29,497 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,353,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 5,184 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The business's fifty day moving average price is $135.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.96.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $47.63 million for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.700-7.000 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

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.