Analysts Set Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) Target Price at $335.75

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $335.75.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LGND. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $387.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $289.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Jason Aryeh sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 102,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,645,000. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jason Haas sold 7,138 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director directly owned 3,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,165,676.61. The trade was a 64.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 66,976 shares of company stock worth $18,940,421 in the last three months. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LGND. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% in 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 bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $52,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 17,050.0% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 343 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1,040.0% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 342 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LGND opened at $285.60 on Thursday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $161.82 and a one year high of $326.63. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.55, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $297.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $249.61.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.40. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 20.06% and a net margin of 67.88%.The business had revenue of $63.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 5.29 EPS 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.