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

Key Points

• Ligand Pharmaceuticals hit a new 52-week high after HC Wainwright raised its price target to $243 and maintained a "buy" rating, with shares trading around $231 versus a prior close of $213.44.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive — seven analysts rate the stock a Buy and one a Hold, giving an overall “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average target price of $246.43.
• Fundamentals showed strength: quarterly EPS of $2.02 beat the $1.46 estimate and revenue of $59.67M topped the $55.59M estimate (revenue up 39.5% YoY), and the company set FY2026 guidance of 8.00–9.00 EPS.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after HC Wainwright raised their price target on the stock from $239.00 to $243.00. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ligand Pharmaceuticals traded as high as $230.98 and last traded at $231.2730, with a volume of 150160 shares. The stock had previously closed at $213.44.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on LGND. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $244.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $246.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.87, for a total value of $207,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 32,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,816,680.91. The trade was a 2.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 3,057 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $687,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,727,250. The trade was a 12.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,915 shares of company stock valued at $6,385,917. Insiders own 7.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 85.8% during the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 210 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company's stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $195.03. The company has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 22.23, a quick ratio of 21.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $59.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.59 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 46.42%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.27 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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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