Legend Biotech’s (LEGN) Market Perform Rating Reiterated at Oppenheimer

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Legend Biotech in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Legend Biotech from $63.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 27th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Legend Biotech to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Legend Biotech from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Legend Biotech in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Legend Biotech presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.64.

Legend Biotech Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LEGN traded down $0.44 on Wednesday, reaching $21.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 180,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,498,554. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.15. The company has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.55 and a beta of 0.37. Legend Biotech has a 52-week low of $16.24 and a 52-week high of $38.35.

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $387.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $355.96 million. Legend Biotech had a negative net margin of 21.98% and a negative return on equity of 24.92%. The business’s revenue was up 51.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Legend Biotech will post -0.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ying Huang sold 5,566 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.78, for a total transaction of $82,265.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 241,872 shares in the company, valued at $3,574,868.16. This represents a 2.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Legend Biotech

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its position in Legend Biotech by 73.1% during the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 6,608,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,672,000 after buying an additional 2,790,620 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Legend Biotech in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,307,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Legend Biotech by 120.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,174,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,274,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188,449 shares during the period. Davern Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in Legend Biotech during the 4th quarter worth approximately $22,972,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Legend Biotech by 4,129.8% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 755,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,434,000 after buying an additional 738,081 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.89% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Legend Biotech

Here are the key news stories impacting Legend Biotech this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Legend Biotech reported second-quarter EPS of $0.09, exceeding the $0.07 analyst consensus. Revenue reached $387.5 million, ahead of the $355.96 million estimate and up 51.9% year over year, providing evidence of continued commercial momentum. Legend Biotech earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighted adjusted EPS that was approximately double consensus expectations and the company’s first quarter of company-wide profitability, strengthening the investment case for operating leverage as sales grow. Legend Biotech gains on earnings beat
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts set a reported price target of $55.29 for Legend Biotech, substantially above the stock’s recent trading level. The target signals considerable potential upside if Carvykti growth and the company’s profitability trajectory continue. Analysts set Legend Biotech price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention remains focused on Carvykti demand, manufacturing capacity and management’s outlook, which will determine whether the latest revenue growth can be sustained. Legend Biotech Carvykti earnings preview
• Neutral Sentiment: A report showing zero shares sold short and a zero-day short-interest ratio appears inconsistent with normal market data, limiting its usefulness as a signal for trading sentiment.

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.