Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Legend Biotech Corporation Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:LEGN)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after HC Wainwright lowered their price target on the stock from $60.00 to $50.00. The stock had previously closed at $20.76, but opened at $20.08. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the stock. Legend Biotech shares last traded at $19.9240, with a volume of 1,686,731 shares.

LEGN has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of Legend Biotech in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group cut their price objective on Legend Biotech from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Legend Biotech in a research report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Legend Biotech from $75.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Legend Biotech from $94.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Legend Biotech

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Legend Biotech by 87.5% in the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,122,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,319,000 after purchasing an additional 990,500 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Legend Biotech in the second quarter valued at about $15,790,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Legend Biotech by 6,774.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 371,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,081,000 after purchasing an additional 366,321 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in Legend Biotech by 302.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 403,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,149,000 after purchasing an additional 303,008 shares during the period. Finally, Stempoint Capital LP bought a new position in Legend Biotech in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,587,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.89% of the company’s stock.

Legend Biotech Stock Down 3.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.77 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.52.

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $272.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $277.91 million. Legend Biotech had a negative net margin of 26.37% and a negative return on equity of 24.47%. Legend Biotech’s revenue for the quarter was up 70.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.34) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Legend Biotech Corporation Sponsored ADR will post -1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Legend Biotech

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ: LEGN) is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development and commercialization of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies for oncology. Headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey, with research and development operations in Shanghai, the company leverages a global infrastructure to advance innovative cellular therapies. Legend Biotech pursues a strategy of strategic collaboration to extend its reach, most notably through its partnership with Janssen Biotech, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

The company’s lead asset, ciltacabtagene autoleucel (commercially marketed as Carvykti), is a B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)–directed CAR-T therapy for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.