Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Updates FY25 Earnings Guidance

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) issued an update on its FY25 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $6.00-6.25 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $6.03. The company issued revenue guidance of $180-200 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $183.10 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals also updated its FY24 guidance to $5.50-5.70 EPS.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of LGND stock opened at $118.60 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $113.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.67. The company has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a PE ratio of 47.25 and a beta of 1.01. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $60.28 and a fifty-two week high of $129.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LGND has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark raised their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $157.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Ligand Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $144.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 1,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.94, for a total transaction of $132,523.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,557,963.40. This trade represents a 4.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Lamattina sold 2,406 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.65, for a total value of $297,501.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,649,529.75. This represents a 7.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,728 shares of company stock worth $2,271,575. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets worldwide. Its commercial programs include Kyprolis and Evomela, which are used to treat multiple myeloma; Rylaze, a recombinant erwinia asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma in adult and pediatric patients; Filspari, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist in development for rare kidney diseases and non-immunosuppressive treatment indicated for immunoglobulin A nephropathy; 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.