This Fund Sold $9 Million of Ligand Stock After an 84% Rally — What Investors Should Know

Ashford Capital Management Inc reported selling 58,097 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) during the third quarter, reducing its position by $8.9 million, according to an SEC filing on Friday.

What Happened

Ashford Capital Management disclosed in an SEC filing on Friday that it sold 58,097 shares of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) in the third quarter. The change in position, estimated at $8.9 million based on quarterly average pricing, brought the fund’s stake to 244,430 shares valued at $43.3 million as of September 30. The firm reported holding 110 positions at quarter-end.

What Else to Know

This sell reduced Ligand Pharmaceuticals from 5.8% to 4.8% of Ashford Capital Management’s 13F reportable AUM.

Top holdings after the filing:

• NASDAQ:GSAT: $51.3 million (5.7% of AUM)
• NASDAQ:LGND: $43.3 million (4.8% of AUM)
• NASDAQ:ODD: $34.2 million (3.8% of AUM)
• NASDAQ:SNEX: $31.6 million (3.5% of AUM)
• NASDAQ:CLBT: $31.5 million (3.5% of AUM)

As of Monday, Ligand Pharmaceuticals shares were priced at $205.47, up 84% over the past year and far outperforming the S&P 500, which is up 14% in the same period.

Company Overview

Company Snapshot

• Ligand Pharmaceuticals offers a broad portfolio of commercialized products and royalty-generating programs, including Kyprolis and Evomela for multiple myeloma, Veklury for COVID-19, and various other therapeutics and vaccines addressing oncology, infectious disease, and specialty indications.
• The company operates a royalty-driven business model, acquiring or developing enabling technologies and licensing them to pharmaceutical partners, thereby generating revenue through royalties, milestone payments, and material sales such as Captisol.
• Primary customers include major global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that integrate Ligand’s technologies into their own drug development pipelines and commercial portfolios.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company with a market capitalization of $4 billion and a focus on technology platforms that support pharmaceutical innovation. The company's scalable royalty-based model enables it to benefit from a diverse range of partnered products across multiple therapeutic areas. Ligand’s competitive edge lies in its technology licensing approach, which provides recurring revenue streams and broad exposure to the success of its partners’ drug pipelines.

Foolish Take

For long-term investors, Ashford’s trim in Ligand Pharmaceuticals reads less like a shift in conviction and more like disciplined position-sizing after a major run-up. The stock has surged 84% over the past year, buoyed recently by a standout third quarter in which revenue more than doubled to $115.5 million and royalty revenue jumped 47% year-over-year. With guidance raised for a second time in 2025 and cash reserves swelling to $664.5 million, Ligand is delivering the type of accelerating fundamentals that can sway a high-conviction manager to rebalance simply to keep exposure in line.

That context matters because Ashford’s portfolio is built around identifying durable, off-the-beaten-path compounders, per its website. Ligand still fits the profile: a scalable royalty-driven model, deep relationships with major pharma partners, and a growing suite of revenue streams across Captisol, royalties, and milestone payments. The underlying thesis doesn’t appear to be broken (especially since the stake still accounts for 4.8% of reportable assets) but a stock sitting near highs and posting strong gains can encourage a fund to rebalance. In other words, Ligand’s fundamentals remain intact, but sometimes it's okay to take some gains and redistribute elsewhere.

Glossary

13F reportable assets: Assets that institutional investment managers must report quarterly to the SEC on Form 13F.
AUM (Assets Under Management): The total market value of investments managed on behalf of clients by a fund or firm.
Position: The amount of a particular security or asset held by an investor or fund.
Stake: The ownership interest or share held in a company by an investor or fund.
Milestone payments: Payments received when a partner achieves specific goals, such as regulatory approval or sales targets, in a licensing agreement.
Royalty-generating programs: Business arrangements where a company earns ongoing payments based on sales of products using its technology or intellectual property.
Royalty-driven business model: A business strategy focused on earning income from royalties rather than direct product sales.
Enabling technologies: Tools or platforms that facilitate or enhance the development of new products, especially in pharmaceuticals.
Material sales: Revenue generated from selling physical products or substances, such as specialized chemicals or compounds, to partners.
Quarter-end: The last day of a fiscal quarter, often used as a reference point for financial reporting.
Outperforming: Achieving better returns or results than a benchmark or comparable group.
TTM: The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.

Jonathan Ponciano has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Cellebrite. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.