Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 2,859 Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 50.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,811 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 2,859 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals were worth $498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 12.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 575 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,446 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $619,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 745 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 85.8% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 5,184 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LGND shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Benchmark upped their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $206.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $270.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.58, for a total value of $88,533.86. Following the sale, the director directly owned 43,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,275,925.32. This trade represents a 1.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,804 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.31, for a total value of $339,711.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 26,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,931,085.66. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,205 shares of company stock worth $608,923. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LGND opened at $203.82 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $196.24 and a 200-day moving average of $174.89. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $93.58 and a 12 month high of $212.49. The company has a current ratio of 24.69, a quick ratio of 24.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a PE ratio of 98.46 and a beta of 0.97.

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

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.