Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) Stock

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Nov 5th, 2026

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND – Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by stock analysts at Citigroup from $397.00 to $402.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Citigroup‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 34.50% from the company’s previous close.

LGND has been the topic of several other research reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $326.00 target price (up from $285.00) on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals from $266.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $358.00 price objective on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered Ligand Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, September 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $345.00 price objective on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ligand Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $339.78.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on LGND

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $17.24 during trading on Thursday, hitting $298.89. 247,610 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 267,299. The company has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of 133.43, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $298.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $254.08. Ligand Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $175.89 and a twelve month high of $326.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 30.96.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biotechnology company reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $78.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.00 million. Ligand Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 5.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.09 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Ligand Pharmaceuticals will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ligand Pharmaceuticals news, Director Martine Zimmermann sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.00, for a total transaction of $342,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,110,645. The trade was a 23.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jason Aryeh sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.43, for a total transaction of $224,301.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 108,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,849,325.94. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 57,090 shares of company stock valued at $16,866,208 over the last 90 days. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ligand Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 681 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,634 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $510,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% during the first quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,484 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. lifted its position in Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 1,002 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC boosted its position in shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% in the second quarter. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. 91.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

(Get Free Report)

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND) is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, acquires and licenses technologies intended to improve the development and commercialization of medicines. Rather than operating primarily as a traditional drug manufacturer, Ligand generally works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners, receiving licensing payments, royalties and other consideration tied to partnered products.

The company’s principal technology is Captisol, a modified cyclodextrin designed to improve the solubility, stability and delivery of certain active pharmaceutical ingredients.