Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.66 EPS

Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 9th, 2023

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND – Get Free Report) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The biotechnology company reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.66, Briefing.com reports. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 3.44% and a net margin of 11.00%. The company had revenue of $26.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.14) EPS. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was down 47.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Ligand Pharmaceuticals updated its FY23 guidance to $4.85-5.00 EPS and its FY 2023 guidance to $4.85-$5.00 EPS.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $67.13 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.58. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $57.77 and a fifty-two week high of $109.00.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director John W. Kozarich sold 4,444 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $343,076.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 38,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,971,273.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 38.0% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 566 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,435 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 361.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,660 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 10.6% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 1,341 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $144.00 in a research note on Friday, June 2nd. TheStreet upgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $109.75.

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About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing or acquiring technologies that help pharmaceutical companies to discover and develop medicines worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Veklury for the treatment of moderate or severe COVID-19; Teriparatide injection product for osteoporosis; Vaxneuvance for the prevention of invasive disease caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes; and Pneumosil, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to help fight against pneumococcal pneumonia among children.