Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target indicates a potential upside of 46.21% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $206.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $185.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.43.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of LGND stock opened at $184.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 24.69 and a quick ratio of 24.30. The company has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.21 and a beta of 0.99. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $93.58 and a 1 year high of $212.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $191.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.09.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $1.13. The company had revenue of $86.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.71 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 19.34%.Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 123.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.400-7.650 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Jason Aryeh sold 10,000 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $1,708,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 69,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,835,254.09. This trade represents a 12.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.84, for a total value of $91,457.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 44,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,640,656.64. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 11,401 shares of company stock valued at $1,972,576 in the last quarter. 7.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 435.5% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,059 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 3,301 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 36,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,848,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 202,828 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $21,325,000 after acquiring an additional 8,473 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $4,657,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 27.1% in the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 59,878 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,296,000 after purchasing an additional 12,783 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.