Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock Price Up 6.9% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Shares jumped 6.9% to $226.86 on Wednesday (intraday high $227.48) while volume was 141,803, about 33% below the average session level.
• Quarterly beat and strong guidance: LGND reported $2.02 EPS vs. $1.46 expected and $59.67M in revenue (up 39.5% YoY), and set FY2026 guidance of $8.00–$9.00 EPS.
• Analyst and ownership backdrop: The consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $245 after several target raises, while insiders recently sold shares (about 23,662 total) and institutional investors own roughly 91.3% of the stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 6.9% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $227.48 and last traded at $226.86. 141,803 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 210,412 shares. The stock had previously closed at $212.29.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LGND has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $245.00.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 4.7%

The firm has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.06 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $194.93 and a 200 day moving average of $188.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 22.23 and a quick ratio of 21.98.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.50, for a total value of $93,633.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 42,720 shares in the company, valued at $8,565,360. The trade was a 1.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 13,423 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.83, for a total value of $2,762,856.09. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,458,689.46. The trade was a 38.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 23,662 shares of company stock valued at $4,817,826 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,789,955,000. Acuitas Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1,922.9% in the third quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC now owns 402,494 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $71,298,000 after purchasing an additional 382,597 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $93,809,000 after purchasing an additional 266,304 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 676.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 254,805 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $45,136,000 after purchasing an additional 221,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 59.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 541,845 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $95,982,000 after purchasing an additional 202,103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company's stock.

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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