Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $172.76 and last traded at $171.99, with a volume of 37011 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $169.72.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LGND. Wall Street Zen raised Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $167.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $155.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. HC Wainwright upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $157.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.50.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of -43.14 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a fifty day moving average of $154.59 and a 200 day moving average of $125.10.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 9.21% and a negative net margin of 40.44%.The company had revenue of $47.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.700-7.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 934 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $116,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 46,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,807,000. This trade represents a 1.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jason Aryeh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $1,708,100.00. Following the sale, the director owned 69,289 shares in the company, valued at $11,835,254.09. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,868 shares of company stock worth $1,962,213. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 749,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,232,000 after purchasing an additional 22,629 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 647,941 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $73,658,000 after acquiring an additional 5,229 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC increased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 571,825 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $65,005,000 after acquiring an additional 17,308 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 488,778 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,571,000 after acquiring an additional 24,326 shares during the period. Finally, Ashford Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc. now owns 302,527 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $34,391,000 after acquiring an additional 4,492 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children.