Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Shares of Legend Biotech Corporation Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:LEGN) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday. The stock had previously closed at $24.29, but opened at $21.33. Legend Biotech shares last traded at $21.2470, with a volume of 952,578 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on LEGN shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Legend Biotech in a report on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Legend Biotech from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Legend Biotech in a report on Monday, July 27th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Legend Biotech in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Legend Biotech from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.69.

Legend Biotech Trading Down 13.6%

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $19.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.12. The firm has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -83.76 and a beta of 0.55.

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $387.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $355.96 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. Legend Biotech’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Legend Biotech Corporation Sponsored ADR will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Legend Biotech

In other news, Director Corazon (Corsee) D. Sanders sold 27,370 shares of Legend Biotech stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.46, for a total transaction of $258,920.20. Following the sale, the director owned 52,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $498,835.26. The trade was a 34.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Carlos E. Santos sold 5,430 shares of Legend Biotech stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.14, for a total value of $49,630.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 14,246 shares in the company, valued at $130,208.44. This trade represents a 27.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEGN. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Legend Biotech during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $55,307,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 315,176 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $22,216,000 after purchasing an additional 289,772 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Legend Biotech by 215.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 324,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,878,000 after purchasing an additional 221,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. raised its holdings in Legend Biotech by 79.6% during the first quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 470,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,508,000 after purchasing an additional 208,477 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.89% of the company’s stock.

About Legend Biotech

Legend Biotech is a biotechnology company focused on developing cell therapies for cancer, with an emphasis on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell treatments. Founded in 2014, the company is headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey, and conducts research and development activities in the United States and China.

Its lead product is CARVYKTI (ciltacabtagene autoleucel), a BCMA-directed CAR-T therapy for certain adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Legend developed the therapy with Janssen, now part of Johnson & Johnson’s Innovative Medicine business, which collaborates on its commercialization.

Legend’s pipeline includes additional investigational cell therapies for cancer.