Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) Stock Jumps 5.8% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Legend Biotech Corporation Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:LEGN) rose 5.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $20.00 and last traded at $19.92. Approximately 1,415,838 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 2,435,720 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.82.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LEGN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer lowered Legend Biotech from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Barclays dropped their price target on Legend Biotech from $78.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Legend Biotech in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Legend Biotech from $59.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Legend Biotech in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.79.

Legend Biotech Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.90 and a 200-day moving average of $23.58. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -77.28 and a beta of 0.57.

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. Legend Biotech had a negative net margin of 7.21% and a negative return on equity of 8.71%. The business had revenue of $387.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $355.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 51.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Legend Biotech Corporation Sponsored ADR will post -0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Legend Biotech news, CFO Carlos E. Santos sold 5,430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.14, for a total value of $49,630.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 14,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,208.44. This trade represents a 27.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Corazon (Corsee) D. Sanders sold 27,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.46, for a total value of $258,920.20. Following the transaction, the director 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Legend Biotech

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Legend Biotech by 343.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 406,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,361,000 after acquiring an additional 315,176 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Legend Biotech during the first quarter valued at $4,039,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $9,439,000 after purchasing an additional 119,000 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Legend Biotech in the second quarter worth about $55,307,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in Legend Biotech by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 769,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,216,000 after buying an additional 289,772 shares during the period. 70.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Legend Biotech

Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ: LEGN) is a biotechnology company focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing cell therapies for cancer and other serious diseases. Its research centers on chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies, which use genetically modified immune cells to recognize and attack cancer cells.

The company’s leading product is Carvykti (ciltacabtagene autoleucel), a B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed CAR-T therapy for certain adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.