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

Legend Biotech Corporation Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:LEGN)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading 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 trading hands.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on LEGN. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Legend Biotech from $94.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Legend Biotech from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $21.00 target price on Legend Biotech in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Legend Biotech from $83.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on Legend Biotech in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LEGN. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Legend Biotech by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 30,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 5,996 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its position in Legend Biotech by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 29,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $647,000 after purchasing an additional 11,456 shares during the last quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC grew its stake in Legend Biotech by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 12,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 4,141 shares in the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA purchased a new position in Legend Biotech in the 4th quarter worth approximately $315,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Legend Biotech by 6,774.9% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 371,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,081,000 after buying an additional 366,321 shares during the last quarter. 70.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Legend Biotech Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a current ratio of 2.86. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of -29.75 and a beta of 0.12. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $24.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.44.

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