Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) Stock Price Target Cut by Royal Bank Of Canada

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) had its target price cut by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $56.00 to $50.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 161.29% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on LEGN. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Legend Biotech from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Legend Biotech in a research note on Monday, September 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Legend Biotech from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $65.00 target price on shares of Legend Biotech in a report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Legend Biotech from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.69.

Legend Biotech Price Performance

Shares of LEGN traded down $1.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $19.14. The company had a trading volume of 564,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,401,282. Legend Biotech has a twelve month low of $16.24 and a twelve month high of $37.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $19.75 and its 200-day moving average is $22.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -76.54 and a beta of 0.55.

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 10th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $359.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $361.46 million. Legend Biotech had a negative return on equity of 8.71% and a negative net margin of 7.21%. Legend Biotech’s revenue was up 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.05) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Legend Biotech will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Legend Biotech

In related news, Director Corazon (Corsee) D. Sanders sold 27,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.46, for a total transaction of $258,920.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 52,731 shares in the company, valued at $498,835.26. This represents a 34.17% 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 Carlos E. Santos sold 5,430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.14, for a total value of $49,630.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,208.44. This represents a 27.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Legend Biotech

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LEGN. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Legend Biotech during the second quarter worth $55,307,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Legend Biotech by 60.4% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 769,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,216,000 after buying an additional 289,772 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Legend Biotech by 29.5% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 521,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,439,000 after buying an additional 119,000 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Legend Biotech by 343.6% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 406,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,361,000 after buying an additional 315,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Legend Biotech by 215.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 324,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,878,000 after buying an additional 221,899 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.89% of the company’s stock.

Legend Biotech News Summary

Investors following LEGN have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter EPS was $0.14, above the $0.01 consensus, while revenue increased 32% year over year. CARVYKTI net trade sales rose 36% to about $710 million. Quarterly results
• Positive Sentiment: Legend reported about $853 million in cash and time deposits. It also highlighted long-term CARVYKTI data and FDA clearance for an investigational dual-targeting CAR-T therapy. Company results and pipeline updates
• Negative Sentiment: Investors were concerned that U.S. demand for CARVYKTI is decelerating, raising questions about the pace of future growth despite the annual sales increase. Article on U.S. demand concerns

About Legend Biotech

Legend Biotech is a biotechnology company focused on developing cell therapies for cancer, with an emphasis on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell treatments. Founded in 2014, the company is headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey, and conducts research and development activities in the United States and China. Its lead product is CARVYKTI (ciltacabtagene autoleucel), a BCMA-directed CAR-T therapy for certain adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Legend developed the therapy with Janssen, now part of Johnson & Johnson’s Innovative Medicine business, which collaborates on its commercialization.