LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS INC (LGND)
Health Care · Biotech - Drug Licensing and Royalties · NASDAQ
Ligand Pharmaceuticals is a high-margin, asset-light biopharmaceutical firm that earns royalties and milestone payments from a diverse portfolio of licensed drug development programs and its proprietary Captisol formulation technology.
What LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS INC does
Ligand Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on developing and acquiring royalty-generating assets and enabling technologies. The company operates through a licensing-based business model, earning royalties and milestone payments from partners that utilize its proprietary technologies, such as Captisol, in their drug development programs. Additionally, Ligand develops and supplies Captisol-based materials for use in drug formulations to improve solubility, stability, and bioavailability.
Themes: biopharmaceutical royalties, drug delivery technology, pharmaceutical licensing
Fundamentals
- Price$295.00 as of 2026-10-08 close
- Market cap$5.9B as of 2026-08-04 (share count; price 2026-10-08)
- 1-year return+59.9% 2025-10-08 close $184.49 → 2026-10-08 close $295.00
- P/E39.74 as of 2026-10-08
- Net margin+46.4% FY2025, SEC XBRL
- ROE+12.2% FY2025, SEC XBRL
- Debt / equity0.45 as of 2026-09-03
- Revenue growth (YoY)+60.4% FY2025 vs FY2024, SEC XBRL
- Revenue CAGR (3y)+11.0% SEC XBRL
- Beta0.96 as of 2026-09-03
- Last reported earnings2026-08-06 SEC EDGAR Form 8-K (Item 2.02)
Dividend: at least 1 years of non-decreasing per-share dividends (SEC XBRL) — we do not hold the year before it, so the real streak may be longer.
How LGND compares in its sector
- price-to-earnings ratiomiddle range 185 covered Health Care peers, as of 2026-10-08
- net profit margintop 10% 430 covered Health Care peers, as of 2026-09-03
- operating margintop 25% 417 covered Health Care peers, as of 2026-09-03
- return on equitytop 25% 510 covered Health Care peers, as of 2026-09-03
- 3-year revenue CAGRmiddle range 402 covered Health Care peers
- free cash flow (absolute dollars, latest fiscal year)middle range 494 covered Health Care peers, as of FY2025
Position among covered Health Care companies that report each metric (minimum 5 peers). A relative position within our covered catalog — not a valuation, quality, or investment judgment. A higher percentile is simply a higher value (for P/E, more expensive on earnings — never "better"). Informational only.
Top 10 scores & list membership
LGND is not currently in any published Top 10 list. Its scores are below.
Top 10 score
56.9 #365 of 1,379 scored · #44 of 151 in Health Care
Trend 79th (a "golden cross" — its 50-day average is above its 200-day) and growth 66th (3-year revenue CAGR 11%); weakest is capital return (24th, net share count bought back over the year -11, consecutive years of dividend increases 1 year).
Left this list on 1 Sep 2026
- Left 1 Sep 2026: score 62.0, rank 29 (not compared with 18 Aug 2026 — those rows were scored under method version 1, this pass under 3, and the formula changed between them, so a score is only comparable within one version) (a member leaves above rank 15).
- Entered 18 Aug 2026: first selection for this list at rank 4, score 61.7.
Scores as of 8 Oct 2026. Each bar is a percentile: how this company ranked against every company the score ranked, 0–100. A list is a published formula and its output, not a recommendation. Method version 4.
How LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS INC looks technically
LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS INC (LGND) is trading 21.4% above its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a longer-term uptrend. Its 50-day average crossed above its 200-day average about 306 trading days ago — a "golden cross", a bullish long-term signal. There is no clear trend right now — the price is choppy (ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 18, below the 25 that marks a real trend). Momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 49, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30). MACD, a trend-momentum gauge, turned bearish about 2 trading days ago (its momentum flipped negative). It made a new 20-day high about 9 trading days ago.
Trend
7
| Distance from the 200-day | it is trading 21.4% above its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a longer-term uptrend | +21.4% |
|---|---|---|
| 50-day moving average | its average price over the last 50 trading days — a short-term trend line — is $291.93 | $291.93 |
| 200-day moving average | its average price over the last 200 trading days — the long-term trend line — is $243.03 | $243.03 |
| Swing structure | its recent peaks and dips disagree — one of them is rising while the other is not, so there is no clean up or down pattern in the swings | mixed — one of the two is not confirming |
| Last swing turn | its last significant turn was a swing high 8 calendar days ago — the swings before that are what the structure reading is measured on | 8 sessions |
| Since the 50/200 cross | its 50-day average crossed above its 200-day average about 306 trading days ago — a "golden cross", a bullish long-term signal | 306 sessions |
| Trend strength (14-day ADX) | there is no clear trend right now — the price is choppy (ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 18, below the 25 that marks a real trend) | 17.5 |
Momentum
3
| 14-day RSI | momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 49, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30) | 49.2 |
|---|---|---|
| Position in its 14-day range | it is trading in the lower half of its 14-day range ($281.74 to $317.23) — its "stochastic" reading is 37 out of 100, where 0 would mean closing exactly at the 14-session low and 100 exactly at the high. This measures WHERE the price sits inside its recent range, which is a different question from the RSI beside it: RSI is a momentum gauge, measuring how FAST the price has been moving, so a stock can drift quietly to the bottom of its range with an ordinary RSI, or fall sharply and still sit in the middle. It has been slipping within that range over the last few sessions. | 37.4 |
| Since the MACD crossed zero | MACD, a trend-momentum gauge, turned bearish about 2 trading days ago (its momentum flipped negative) | 2 sessions |
Range
12
| 52-week high | its highest closing price over the past year (about 252 trading days) was $326.63 | $326.63 |
|---|---|---|
| From the 52-week high | it is 9.7% below its 52-week high (its highest price of the past year) | -9.7% |
| Above the 52-week low | it is 67.7% above its 52-week low (its lowest price of the past year) | +67.7% |
| Below the 52-week high | it is 9.7% below its highest point of the past year | 9.7% |
| Since a 20-day breakout | it made a new 20-day high about 9 trading days ago | 9 sessions |
| Since a 55-day breakout | it made a new 55-day low about 17 trading days ago | 17 sessions |
| All-time high | its highest closing price on record is $326.63 (set on 2026-07-08) | $326.63 |
| Given back of the 52-week move | over the past year its closes ranged ($177.73 to $322.61), and it has given back roughly a quarter of its rise from last year’s low — 19% of it. Chart-watchers call 61.8%-65% given back the "golden pocket" — for this company that is $228.44 to $233.07. It is watched widely enough that orders cluster there, which is the honest reason it matters; it is not a forecast. | 19.1% |
| From the all-time high | it is 9.7% below its all-time high | -9.7% |
| Nearest price level | it is trading 1.0% above a support level at $292.10 — a price it turned at twice since 2026-07-17, most recently on 2026-09-11. Since 2024-10-08 it has 18 such levels below the current price and 1 above. Levels like these describe where the price has reversed or paused before; they are not a forecast of where it will go. | -1.0% |
| All-time low | its lowest closing price on record is $6.59 (set on 2008-10-28) | $6.59 |
| Above the all-time low | it is 4378.6% above its all-time low | +4,379% |
Volatility
5
| Band width vs its own 6 months | day-to-day price swings are about average versus its own recent 6-month history | 52nd percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Typical daily range | in a typical session it travels about $10.14 between its high and its low — about 3.4% of its price. That is its "average true range" over the last 14 sessions, which also counts the distance from the previous close, so a day that opens well away from yesterday counts as the large move it was | $10.14 |
| Bollinger bands (20-day, ±2σ) | most of its recent trading has stayed between about $272.80 and $317.95 — the "Bollinger bands", a range drawn two standard deviations either side of its 20-day average price, which widens when the stock gets more volatile and narrows when it settles | $272.80 – $295.38 – $317.95 |
| Typical daily range (% of price) | its price moves about 3.4% in a typical session — about typical for the companies we cover. This is the average gap between a session's high and low over the last 14 sessions, counting overnight moves, expressed against the current price so it can be compared with companies trading at any price | 3.4% |
| Stretch from the 200-day average | it is trading 5.1 daily ranges above its 200-day average price (21.4% above it in plain percentage terms) — a way of asking how far it has stretched from its own average in units of how far it normally moves in a day, so a calm company and a jumpy one can be compared on the same scale | 5.1 daily ranges above its 200-day average |
Volume
1
| Volume vs its 30-day average | trading volume is about normal versus its 30-day average | 1.32× |
|---|
Analyst
2
| Change in the average price target | analysts' average price target is unchanged from the prior reading | 0.0% |
|---|---|---|
| Change in the consensus rating | the analyst consensus rating is unchanged since the prior reading | unchanged |
Candlestick patterns
3
| Since a doji | 1 session ago it opened and closed at almost the same price after trading through a wider range — a "doji", the classic picture of buyers and sellers finishing the session level | 1 session ago |
|---|---|---|
| Since a bullish engulfing | today it opened below the previous session's close and finished above that session's open — a "bullish engulfing" pair, where one up day more than undid the down day before it | today |
| Since a bearish engulfing | 2 sessions ago it opened above the previous session's close and finished below that session's open — a "bearish engulfing" pair, where one down day more than undid the up day before it | 2 sessions ago |
Price gaps
2
| Gap at the open | it opened on 2026-10-08 1.0% below the previous session's close — an overnight gap, the part of the move that happened while the market was shut, and traded back through that level before the close | -1.0% |
|---|---|---|
| Gap filled | a 2.5% gap up opened on 2026-08-04 has been "filled" 43 sessions ago — price traded back through the level the gap left behind, and it took 3 sessions to close | 43 sessions ago |
Price streaks
1
| Closing streak | it closed higher in its latest session, after a session that did not close higher — a single up day rather than a run | 1 session up |
|---|
Relative strength
4
| vs market, 1 month | over the past 1 month this stock beat the market by 1.1 percentage points (the stock gained 2.1% while the market gained 1.0%) | +1.1% |
|---|---|---|
| vs market, 3 months | over the past 3 months this stock lagged the market by 10.1 percentage points (the stock lost 6.3% while the market gained 3.8%) | -10.1% |
| vs market, 6 months | over the past 6 months this stock beat the market by 27.4 percentage points (the stock gained 44.9% while the market gained 17.5%) | +27.4% |
| vs market, 12 months | over the past 12 months this stock beat the market by 44.9 percentage points (the stock gained 59.9% while the market gained 15.0%) | +44.9% |
Signal agreement
2
| Bullish technical signals | 4 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it are currently in a bullish state: a "golden cross" — its 50-day average is above its 200-day, trading above its 200-day average, outperforming the market over 6 months, trading above the Ichimoku cloud — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 4 of 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Bearish technical signals | 1 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it is currently in a bearish state: MACD momentum is negative — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 1 of 9 |
Trend (Ichimoku cloud)
1
| Vs the Ichimoku cloud | trading 1.5% above the Ichimoku cloud — a band drawn from where its own highs and lows sat up to 2026-09-01 and projected forward over today's price, the side traders read as an established uptrend, with the band below acting as the level that would have to give way. The band itself is thin, spanning 1.6% of the share price, which is taken to mean a barrier that gives way easily. | +1.5% |
|---|
Volume-weighted price
2
| Vs this year’s average price paid | the price is 16% above the average price paid so far this year, so the typical buyer over that stretch is showing a gain. That average is $254.11 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 190 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | +16.1% |
|---|---|---|
| Vs the average paid since it last reported | the price is 1% above the average price paid since it last reported on 2026-08-06 (its 8-K), so the typical buyer over that stretch is showing a gain. That average is $293.03 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 45 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | +0.7% |
Double top, bearish — forming · entry $275.20 · 64 sessions in
Price levels it has turned at before
LGND last closed at $295.00 on 2026-10-08. Since 2024-10-08 it has turned at 18 prices below its last close and 1 above; the 3 nearest below and the nearest above are listed, nearest first.
| Level | Side | Distance | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| $292.10 | Support | 1.0% below the last close | turned there twice · 2026-07-17 to 2026-09-11 |
| $317.36 | Resistance | 7.6% above the last close | turned there twice · 2026-08-06 to 2026-09-30 |
| $246.19 | Support | 16.6% below the last close | turned there twice · 2026-04-27 to 2026-06-22 |
| $237.54 | Support | 19.5% below the last close | turned there twice · 2026-05-06 to 2026-05-27 |
A level is a price this company reversed or paused at more than once — they describe past behaviour, not a forecast of where the price will go.
Wave structure
No Elliott-wave labelling currently fits its swings: the recent highs and lows do not satisfy the three rules a five-wave count has to obey, so there is no count to show rather than a count we are unsure about.
Read from daily closes as of 2026-10-08.
An Elliott-wave count describes the swings already printed and the level that would disprove it. It is not a forecast, a target, or advice.
Screens: Trading above the 200-day moving average · MACD just crossed bearish (12/26/9) · trendless / choppy (low ADX) · beating the market · Printed a bullish engulfing pair · Trading above the Ichimoku cloud | Learn: moving average · golden cross · adx · rsi · macd · breakout
Based on daily closing prices as of 2026-10-08. Describes past price behavior only — informational, not financial advice.
Analyst consensus
- Consensus ratingStrong Buy (1.27 mean, 1=Strong Buy…5=Strong Sell) — 12 analysts
- Mean price target$344.25 range $247.00 – $397.00; median $345.00
Analyst estimates, as of 2026-10-03. These are third-party analyst opinions and price targets, aggregated — not a recommendation, prediction, or advice from stocks-llm. Informational only.
Analyst EPS estimate for LGND
- Consensus EPS estimate$2.31 next reporting period, as of 2026-10-03
- Estimate change, 30 days+$0.0056 (+0.2%) from $2.30, on 2026-08-29, 35-day window
- Readings revised upward14% of 7 comparable readings
The consensus estimate for the next reporting period, and how it has moved between readings of that SAME period. A change is measured only between readings estimating one period — when a company reports, the consensus moves to the next quarter and the two numbers are not comparable. Informational only, not a forecast and not advice.
Key risks (from latest filing)
["Heavy reliance on the commercial success of third-party licensees and their ability to successfully market and sell drugs utilizing Ligand's technologies.","Potential for fluctuations in royalty and milestone revenues due to regulatory delays, clinical trial failures, or market competition for licensed products.","Risk associated with the concentration of revenues from a limited number of key licensed drugs and partners."]
What changed in the latest 10-Q
AI-assisted comparison of LGND's 10-Q filed 2026-05-08 against the prior one filed 2025-11-07.
Management's Discussion & Analysis (MD&A)
The two filings could not be meaningfully compared for this section.
AI-assisted comparison of two SEC filing sections. It describes wording and theme changes only, makes no materiality, legal, or investment judgement, and is not financial advice. Informational only — not financial advice.
Insider activity (SEC Form 4)
0 open-market purchases and 24 open-market sales by insiders in the last 90 days, of which we have read Form 4 filings through 2026-10-04. The 5 days since 2026-10-04 have not been checked yet.
- Last 30 days · read to 2026-10-040 buys · 7 sells ($2M) — 2 selling insiders
- Last 90 days · read to 2026-10-040 buys · 24 sells ($16M) — 4 selling insiders
- Last 180 days · read to 2026-10-040 buys · 62 sells ($25M) — 8 selling insiders
Activity heuristic: net selling (a transparent product heuristic from the counts above, not a prediction or advice)
Most recent open-market transaction: 2026-10-02. Based on Form 4 filings read through 2026-10-04; anything filed since is not yet included.
View full insider trading history → View SEC Form 3/4/5 filingsAsk about LGND's insider activity →
Only open-market purchases (SEC code P) and sales (code S) are counted here. Option exercises, vesting/awards, gifts, and shares withheld for taxes are excluded — they are compensation or mechanical, not open-market conviction. Sales may be planned and non-discretionary (e.g. a Rule 10b5-1 plan) and are not necessarily bearish; open-market buying is not a recommendation to buy. Informational only — not financial advice.
U.S. House trading disclosures
U.S. House members publicly disclose their own, their spouse's, and dependent children's stock transactions under the STOCK Act. We hold 4 matched disclosures for LGND from U.S. House Clerk Periodic Transaction Report filings.
U.S. House trading disclosures →Institutional ownership (13F)
4 institutional 13F filers reported holding LGND as of 2026-06-30 (quarter-end position, filed within 45 days).
- Distinct 13F filers 4
- Reported shares held 4,713,762
- Reported value $1,489,964,259
reported quarterly holdings change (2026-03-31 → 2026-06-30): 0 new, 4 increased, 0 decreased, 0 exited. Change counts cover only managers that filed 13F reports in BOTH quarters, derived between two quarter-end snapshots — not same-day trades; a single manager is never said to have "bought" or "sold".
Institutional holdings are quarter-end long positions reported on SEC Form 13F-HR, filed up to 45 days after the quarter ends — they are delayed, are not real-time trades, exclude short positions and most non-US securities, and are not investment advice. Any increase/decrease is a reported change between two quarterly snapshots, not a same-day purchase or sale. These are quarter-end snapshots from the 13F filings on SEC EDGAR, filed within 45 days — not real-time, and any change is a difference between two quarterly reports, not a same-day trade. Informational only — not financial advice.
Ask about LGND's institutional holders → See what each manager we track holds →
Short interest (FINRA)
LGND had 2,632,434 shares of reported short interest as of the 2026-09-15 FINRA settlement date (delayed, bi-monthly; not real-time).
LGND had 13.2% of its shares outstanding sold short as of the 2026-09-15 FINRA settlement date (percent of FLOAT would be higher — float is not disclosed in the source). FINRA reported 13.53 days to cover at the same settlement.
- Reported short interest (shares) 2,632,434
- Short interest (% of shares outstanding) 13.2%
- Prior settlement (shares) 2,480,981
- Reported change 6.1%
- Days to cover (reported) 13.53
Reported to FINRA as of the 2026-09-15 settlement date. Short interest is reported to FINRA and published on a delayed, bi-monthly schedule (as of a settlement date, disseminated roughly eight business days later) — it is NOT real-time, does not cover every venue or all US trading, and is not a short-squeeze prediction or investment advice. Days-to-cover is the value FINRA reports; percent of float is not shown because the source file carries no share-count denominator — where a percent appears it is of shares OUTSTANDING, the larger base, and is therefore a floor on percent of float. Informational only — not financial advice.
Competitors & peers
- Royalty Pharma (RPRX)
- Healthcare Royalty (HCRX)
- Xencor (XNCR)
- MorphoSys (MOR)
AI-enriched competitor set. Linked names are companies covered by stocks-llm; other named peers are shown for reference only.
Compare LGND vs…
Frequently asked questions
What does LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS INC (LGND) do?
Ligand Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on developing and acquiring royalty-generating assets and enabling technologies. The company operates through a licensing-based business model, earning royalties and milestone payments from partners that utilize its proprietary technologies, such as Captisol, in their drug development programs.
What sector is LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS INC (LGND) in?
LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS INC (LGND) is classified in the Health Care sector. Its industry is Biotech - Drug Licensing and Royalties. It trades on NASDAQ.
Who are LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS INC's (LGND) competitors?
Notable peers of LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS INC (LGND) include Royalty Pharma, Healthcare Royalty, Xencor and MorphoSys. This peer set is informational only — not financial advice.
Has there been recent U.S. House stock trading in LGND?
Yes — we hold 4 matched STOCK Act disclosures for LGND from U.S. House Clerk Periodic Transaction Report filings. These are legally-required disclosures (often filed 30–45 days after the trade), may belong to a U.S. House member, their spouse, or a dependent child, and are not an indicator of company performance or investment advice.
Is LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS INC (LGND) overbought or oversold right now?
LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS INC (LGND) is currently neither overbought nor oversold — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 49, in the neutral middle (as of 2026-10-08). RSI describes recent price momentum, not a forecast — informational only, not financial advice.
Where does stocks-llm's data on LGND come from?
Fundamentals come from SEC XBRL company filings for the figures marked with a fiscal year, and market data, as of 2026-09-03 for the rest; prices are market data, as of 2026-09-03; company filings and profile facts come from SEC EDGAR. All figures are delayed daily-close data shown with their as-of date — informational only, not financial advice.
Fundamentals: SEC XBRL company filings for the figures marked with a fiscal year, and market data, as of 2026-09-03 for the rest. Filings: SEC EDGAR. Prices are delayed daily-close data.
Last updated 2026-10-08.
Informational only — NOT financial advice. All figures are delayed daily-close data from SEC EDGAR & market data, shown with their as-of date.