Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Has $14.70 Million Stock Holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,991 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,858 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $14,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 749,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,232,000 after buying an additional 22,629 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 667,311 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $118,207,000 after acquiring an additional 19,370 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 59.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 541,845 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $95,982,000 after acquiring an additional 202,103 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, Acuitas Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1,922.9% during the third quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC now owns 402,494 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $71,298,000 after acquiring an additional 382,597 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 13,423 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.83, for a total transaction of $2,762,856.09. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,458,689.46. This represents a 38.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.35, for a total transaction of $1,031,750.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 36,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,607,918.15. This trade represents a 11.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 24,915 shares of company stock valued at $5,165,939 in the last ninety days. 7.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $202.91 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $196.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $189.45. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $93.58 and a 1-year high of $227.92. The company has a current ratio of 22.23, a quick ratio of 21.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.80, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.17.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.56. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 13.86% and a net margin of 46.42%.The company had revenue of $59.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-9.000 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $244.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $231.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.00.

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.