Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Releases FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 5.000-5.500 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 5.160. The company issued revenue guidance of $140.0 million-$157.0 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $147.2 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals also updated its FY24 guidance to $5.00-5.50 EPS.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.9 %

LGND stock traded up $0.91 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $99.04. 126,073 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 149,334. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.16 and a beta of 1.01. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $49.24 and a twelve month high of $112.13.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $3.01. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 79.30%. The business had revenue of $30.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.92 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on LGND shares. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Benchmark restated a buy rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, June 28th. HC Wainwright reiterated a buy rating and issued a $144.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. They issued an outperform rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $127.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.04, for a total transaction of $830,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,843,903.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 5,156 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total transaction of $446,818.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,026,024.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew Reardon sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.04, for a total transaction of $830,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 22,205 shares in the company, valued at $1,843,903.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,882 over the last 90 days. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.