Nordea Investment Management AB Has $10.19 Million Holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $LGND

Nordea Investment Management AB cut its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,725 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 7,276 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned about 0.27% of Ligand Pharmaceuticals worth $10,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $275.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $244.00 target price for the company. 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 note on Tuesday, February 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.86.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

LGND stock opened at $204.56 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $197.54 and its 200-day moving average is $191.64. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $93.58 and a 1 year high of $227.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 22.23 and a quick ratio of 21.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.17.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.59 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.50, for a total value of $93,633.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 42,720 shares in the company, valued at $8,565,360. The trade was a 1.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen L. Sabba sold 2,034 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $409,851.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 33,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,809,289.50. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 25,915 shares of company stock valued at $5,373,809 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals 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.