Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Oppenheimer

Equities researchers at Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer’s price target suggests a potential upside of 257.48% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Johnson Rice set a $60.00 price target on Legend Biotech in a report on Friday, October 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Legend Biotech from $75.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on Legend Biotech from $94.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Legend Biotech in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Legend Biotech from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Legend Biotech currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.80.

Legend Biotech Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LEGN opened at $20.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a current ratio of 2.86. Legend Biotech has a fifty-two week low of $20.21 and a fifty-two week high of $45.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.44. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of -32.28 and a beta of 0.12.

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.11) 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $277.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.34) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 70.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Legend Biotech will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Legend Biotech

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Legend Biotech by 76.5% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 847 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Legend Biotech by 171.9% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Legend Biotech by 102.6% during the third quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 1,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 622 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Legend Biotech by 913.0% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Legend Biotech in the 2nd quarter worth about $78,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.89% of the company’s stock.

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.