Tudor Investment Corp ET AL Purchases New Stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 15,750,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,789,955,000. Ligand Pharmaceuticals accounts for 1.7% of Tudor Investment Corp ET AL’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL owned about 0.80% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LGND. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,014 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 12.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 575 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 31.6% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 271 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 85.8% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 210 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $209.52 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $197.08 and its 200-day moving average is $190.27. The stock has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.17. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $93.58 and a twelve month high of $227.92. The company has a quick ratio of 21.98, a current ratio of 22.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 13,423 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.83, for a total value of $2,762,856.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,458,689.46. This represents a 38.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.35, for a total value of $1,031,750.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 36,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,607,918.15. This represents a 11.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 24,915 shares of company stock valued at $5,165,939 in the last three months. Insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms 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 raised their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. Finally, 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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.