Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) Rating Lowered to Inline at Evercore

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) was downgraded by equities researchers at Evercore from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research note issued on Friday, Briefing.com reports.

LEGN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Legend Biotech from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Legend Biotech from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Legend Biotech from $49.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Legend Biotech in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Legend Biotech from $68.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Legend Biotech presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.85.

Legend Biotech Trading Down 5.7%

NASDAQ:LEGN traded down $1.06 on Friday, hitting $17.48. 2,417,434 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,428,292. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of -1,751.05 and a beta of 0.55. Legend Biotech has a 1 year low of $16.24 and a 1 year high of $37.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.12.

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 10th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.13. Legend Biotech had a negative net margin of 0.02% and a negative return on equity of 0.03%. The firm had revenue of $359.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $361.46 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.05) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast 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 Legend Biotech stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.46, for a total transaction of $258,920.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 52,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $498,835.26. This trade represents a 34.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Carlos E. Santos sold 5,430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.14, for a total transaction of $49,630.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 14,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,208.44. This trade represents a 27.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Legend Biotech

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LEGN. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Legend Biotech in the third quarter valued at about $937,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Legend Biotech by 3.9% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 26,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Legend Biotech by 484.1% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 68,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 56,936 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Legend Biotech by 2.1% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 177,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,526,000 after purchasing an additional 3,707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Legend Biotech in the third quarter valued at approximately $136,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.89% of the company’s stock.

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.