Tudor Investment Corp ET AL Takes $2.79 Billion Position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 15,750,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,789,955,000. Ligand Pharmaceuticals accounts for about 1.7% of Tudor Investment Corp ET AL’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL owned 80.03% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LGND. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 85.8% during the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 210 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 271 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on LGND shares. Citigroup began coverage on Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $231.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Bank of America assumed 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 for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.00.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 13,423 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.83, for a total transaction of $2,762,856.09. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,458,689.46. This represents a 38.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 2,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $409,851.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,809,289.50. This represents a 5.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 24,915 shares of company stock valued at $5,165,939 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of LGND stock opened at $209.52 on Thursday. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $93.58 and a 52 week high of $227.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 35.94, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 21.98 and a current ratio of 22.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $197.08 and its 200-day moving average is $190.27.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $59.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities research analysts expect 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.