Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.21 EPS

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The biotechnology company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.21), FiscalAI reports. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 16.19% and a net margin of 55.95%.The company had revenue of $51.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.6%

LGND stock traded down $5.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $213.21. 127,863 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 210,637. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 20.95 and a current ratio of 21.28. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $214.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $201.85. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $98.89 and a 1-year high of $247.38.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on LGND. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $252.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $244.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $276.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.71.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.31, for a total transaction of $1,156,550.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,572,070.42. This trade represents a 10.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 3,057 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $687,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,010 shares in the company, valued at $4,727,250. This trade represents a 12.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,949 shares of company stock valued at $8,014,056. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 516,464 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $97,648,000 after purchasing an additional 138,169 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 339.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,388 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,342,000 after purchasing an additional 9,568 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,417 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $1,459,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 12,038 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,276,000 after buying an additional 3,442 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.