Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND Position Boosted by Moody National Bank Trust Division

Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 14.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,862 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,009,891 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $201,623,000 after acquiring an additional 14,491 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $93,809,000 after purchasing an additional 266,304 shares in the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 283,567 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,614,000 after purchasing an additional 3,940 shares in the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $81,424,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 31.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 157,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,518,000 after purchasing an additional 37,696 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.2%

Shares of NASDAQ LGND traded down $9.83 on Tuesday, reaching $296.94. 163,740 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 270,581. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $291.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $262.79. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $175.89 and a 12 month high of $326.63. The company has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 30.96, a current ratio of 31.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $63.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.30 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 20.06% and a net margin of 67.88%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LGND has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $397.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, August 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $330.00 target price for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $337.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Martine Zimmermann sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.00, for a total value of $342,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,645. The trade was a 23.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.09, for a total value of $1,430,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 36,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,446,290.26. This represents a 12.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 54,979 shares of company stock worth $16,068,898 over the last three months. 5.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and licenses technologies and drug assets to pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners. Rather than operating primarily as a traditional commercial drug manufacturer, Ligand focuses on building a portfolio of royalty agreements, licensing arrangements and other partnerships that can generate payments when partnered products are developed, approved and sold.

The company’s best-known technology is Captisol, a chemically modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain drug compounds.