Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) Shares Climb 4.5% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Legend Biotech Corporation Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:LEGN) were up 4.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $18.70 and last traded at $18.6870. 188,369 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 2,412,927 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Legend Biotech in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Oppenheimer downgraded Legend Biotech from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Legend Biotech in a report on Monday, September 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Legend Biotech from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Legend Biotech from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.07.

Legend Biotech Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of -77.60 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.61.

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $387.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $355.96 million. Legend Biotech had a negative net margin of 7.21% and a negative return on equity of 8.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Legend Biotech Corporation Sponsored ADR will post -0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Legend Biotech

In other Legend Biotech news, Director Corazon (Corsee) D. Sanders sold 27,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 34.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Carlos E. Santos sold 5,430 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The shares were 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 approximately $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. Insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Legend Biotech

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Legend Biotech in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,307,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Legend Biotech by 343.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 406,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,361,000 after purchasing an additional 315,176 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in Legend Biotech by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 769,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,216,000 after purchasing an additional 289,772 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Legend Biotech in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,039,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Legend Biotech by 215.4% in the first 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 during the period. 70.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Legend Biotech

Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ: LEGN) is a biotechnology company focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing cell therapies for cancer and other serious diseases. Its research centers on chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies, which use genetically modified immune cells to recognize and attack cancer cells.

The company’s leading product is Carvykti (ciltacabtagene autoleucel), a B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed CAR-T therapy for certain adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.