Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock Breaks Above 200-Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Ligand Pharmaceuticals shares broke above their 200-day moving average, reaching $309.77 and last trading at $306.77, compared with a 200-day average of $262.79.
• Analysts remain bullish, with all 10 covering analysts rating the stock a Buy and a consensus price target of $337.89.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $2.37, beating estimates by $0.40, while revenue rose 33.8% year over year to $63.69 million; however, insiders sold nearly $14.5 million in shares over the past 90 days.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $262.79 and traded as high as $309.77. Ligand Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $306.77, with a volume of 163,814 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on LGND. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $358.00 target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $330.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $397.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $337.89.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 31.18 and a quick ratio of 30.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $291.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $262.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.14.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.40. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 20.06% and a net margin of 67.88%.The company had revenue of $63.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Jason Haas sold 7,138 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.81, for a total transaction of $2,090,077.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,981 shares in the company, valued at $1,165,676.61. This trade represents a 64.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 31,641 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.06, for a total transaction of $9,241,070.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,088,893.76. This trade represents a 53.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 49,979 shares of company stock worth $14,548,548 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,009,891 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $201,623,000 after acquiring an additional 14,491 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $93,809,000 after purchasing an additional 266,304 shares in the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the first quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 283,567 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $56,614,000 after purchasing an additional 3,940 shares in the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $81,424,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 31.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 157,865 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $31,518,000 after purchasing an additional 37,696 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and licenses technologies and drug assets to pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners. Rather than operating primarily as a traditional commercial drug manufacturer, Ligand focuses on building a portfolio of royalty agreements, licensing arrangements and other partnerships that can generate payments when partnered products are developed, approved and sold.

The company's best-known technology is Captisol, a chemically modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain drug compounds.

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