Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) Stock Price Up 6.8% – Time to Buy?

Legend Biotech Corporation Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:LEGN)’s share price traded up 6.8% on Monday . The company traded as high as $23.64 and last traded at $23.78. 1,185,366 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 2,457,067 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on LEGN. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Legend Biotech from $31.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Legend Biotech from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Legend Biotech to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Legend Biotech in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Legend Biotech from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Legend Biotech presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Legend Biotech Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.62 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s 50 day moving average is $29.18 and its 200-day moving average is $23.36.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ying Huang sold 5,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.78, for a total transaction of $82,265.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 241,872 shares in the company, valued at $3,574,868.16. The trade was a 2.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Legend Biotech

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Legend Biotech by 73.1% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 6,608,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,672,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790,620 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in shares of Legend Biotech by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 6,164,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,020,000 after acquiring an additional 70,191 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Legend Biotech by 120.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,174,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188,449 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Legend Biotech in the second quarter valued at $55,307,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Legend Biotech by 4.6% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,632,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,251,000 after purchasing an additional 72,371 shares during the period. 70.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Legend Biotech

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.