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

Legend Biotech Corporation Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:LEGN)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Monday after Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $63.00 to $59.00. The stock had previously closed at $22.22, but opened at $20.55. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Legend Biotech shares last traded at $19.43, with a volume of 2,087,001 shares traded.

LEGN has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Legend Biotech from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of Legend Biotech in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Legend Biotech to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Legend Biotech from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Legend Biotech from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.08.

Insider Activity at Legend Biotech

In other news, CEO Ying Huang sold 5,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.78, for a total value of $82,265.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 241,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,574,868.16. This represents a 2.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Legend Biotech by 171.9% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Legend Biotech by 310.7% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 3,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 2,632 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of Legend Biotech by 1,730.3% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 3,374 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Legend Biotech in the second quarter worth approximately $78,000. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Legend Biotech in the first quarter worth approximately $81,000. 70.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Legend Biotech Stock Down 15.1%

The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.95 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $28.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.40.

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.01). Legend Biotech had a negative return on equity of 24.92% and a negative net margin of 21.98%.The business had revenue of $305.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.07) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 56.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Legend Biotech Corporation Sponsored ADR will post -0.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Legend Biotech Company Profile

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.