Ligand Pharmaceuticals’ (LGND) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at HC Wainwright

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Sep 24th, 2026

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND – Get Free Report)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by research analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $358.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price indicates a potential upside of 18.70% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on LGND. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $255.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $326.00 price target (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $397.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America increased their target price on Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $337.00.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of LGND traded up $3.20 on Thursday, reaching $301.61. 65,354 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 268,685. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $290.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $257.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 31.18 and a quick ratio of 30.96. The firm has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.11. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $163.45 and a 12 month high of $326.63.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $63.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.30 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 67.88% and a return on equity of 20.06%. The business’s revenue was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.000-9.500 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 5.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jason Haas sold 7,138 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.81, for a total transaction of $2,090,077.78. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,981 shares in the company, valued at $1,165,676.61. This represents a 64.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Octavio Espinoza sold 31,641 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.06, for a total value of $9,241,070.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 27,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,088,893.76. The trade was a 53.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 54,979 shares of company stock valued at $16,114,948 over the last quarter. 5.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LGND. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 115.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 496,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $93,809,000 after purchasing an additional 266,304 shares in the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $81,424,000. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $24,813,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $41,429,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 265.4% during the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 117,432 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $22,204,000 after purchasing an additional 85,297 shares in the last quarter. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Ligand Pharmaceuticals this week:

Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright reaffirmed its “buy” rating and set a $358 price target, implying approximately 19% upside from the recently cited price near $300. The endorsement supports the view that Ligand’s royalty portfolio and business-development strategy can drive further appreciation.
Positive Sentiment: Ligand entered a financing agreement with AvenCell Therapeutics for up to $47 million to advance next-generation, controllable allogeneic CAR-T therapies for cancer. The transaction expands Ligand’s exposure to the cell-therapy pipeline and could create future royalty or milestone opportunities. Ligand and AvenCell Therapeutics financing agreement
Positive Sentiment: Ligand acquired royalty and milestone interests in Santen’s Ryjunea eye drug from Sydnexis for $23 million. The deal adds another potential source of recurring revenue and further diversifies Ligand’s royalty portfolio beyond its existing assets. Ligand acquires Ryjunea royalty and milestone interest
Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target to $397 from $390 and maintained a “buy” rating, indicating continued analyst confidence in Ligand’s growth prospects and suggesting substantial potential upside from current levels.
Neutral Sentiment: The AvenCell commitment and Ryjunea acquisition require substantial capital, while AvenCell’s therapies remain in clinical development. Their eventual financial contribution depends on clinical progress, regulatory approvals and commercial adoption.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

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Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, acquires and licenses technologies designed to help pharmaceutical companies discover, develop and commercialize medicines. Rather than focusing primarily on building a large portfolio of internally marketed drugs, Ligand operates an asset-light business model centered on partnerships, licensing agreements, royalties and other economic interests in partnered products.

The company’s principal technology is Captisol, a proprietary modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain drug compounds.