Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Releases FY24 Earnings Guidance

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $5.50-5.70 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39. The company issued revenue guidance of $160-165 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $156.29 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 5.500-5.700 EPS.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LGND opened at $116.90 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.61. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $51.21 and a fifty-two week high of $116.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.12 and a beta of 0.99.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.34. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 29.69% and a return on equity of 7.91%. The business had revenue of $41.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 57.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 3.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on LGND shares. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $157.00 price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $132.83.

Insider Activity at Ligand Pharmaceuticals

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, COO Matthew E. Korenberg sold 18,245 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total transaction of $1,797,132.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 68,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,734,248. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, insider Andrew Reardon sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total transaction of $199,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,244,386.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Matthew E. Korenberg sold 18,245 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total value of $1,797,132.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 68,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,734,248. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 51,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,255,692. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.