Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

Key Points

• Ligand shares gapped down from $241.79 to an open of $229.79 and last traded near $227.74, even as brokers largely raised targets; the consensus rating is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $249.71.
• The company posted an earnings beat of $2.02 EPS vs. $1.46 expected and revenue up 39.5% YoY, and it set FY2026 guidance of 8.00–9.00 EPS.
• Insiders sold about 30,915 shares (≈$6.39M) in the last quarter, while institutional ownership remains high at 91.28%, with several funds both adding to and increasing positions.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $241.79, but opened at $229.79. Ligand Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $227.7410, with a volume of 12,310 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on LGND. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. HC Wainwright upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $239.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $235.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $249.71.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $208.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.99. The company has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.56. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 46.42% and a return on equity of 13.86%. The business had revenue of $59.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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 5.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In related news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.24, for a total value of $1,006,200.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,327,713.68. The trade was a 10.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.23, for a total value of $94,441.41. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 42,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,544,824.19. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,915 shares of company stock valued at $6,385,917. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 25.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,120 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $344,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 8.2% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,660 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,121,000 after buying an additional 809 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 9.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 55,327 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $5,817,000 after buying an additional 4,926 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 176.2% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 36,922 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,882,000 after buying an additional 23,553 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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