Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) Stock Price

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) had its target price lowered by analysts at Barclays from $68.00 to $61.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price target points to a potential upside of 218.77% from the stock’s previous close.

LEGN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Legend Biotech in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Legend Biotech from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Legend Biotech in a report on Friday, October 30th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Legend Biotech from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Legend Biotech currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.69.

Legend Biotech Trading Down 6.2%

LEGN stock traded down $1.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $19.14. 564,477 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,401,282. Legend Biotech has a 12 month low of $16.24 and a 12 month high of $37.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -76.47 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.12.

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 10th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $359.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $361.46 million. Legend Biotech had a negative net margin of 7.21% and a negative return on equity of 8.71%. Legend Biotech’s quarterly revenue was up 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.05) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Legend Biotech will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Legend Biotech

In other Legend Biotech news, CFO Carlos Santos sold 5,430 shares of Legend Biotech stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.14, for a total value of $49,630.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,208.44. The trade was a 27.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Corazon (Corsee) D. Sanders sold 27,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.46, for a total value of $258,920.20. Following the sale, the director owned 52,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $498,835.26. The trade was a 34.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Legend Biotech by 173.9% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares in the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in Legend Biotech during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Legend Biotech during the second quarter worth about $92,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Legend Biotech in the 3rd quarter valued at about $136,000. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new position in Legend Biotech in the 2nd quarter valued at about $162,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.89% of the company’s stock.

Key Legend Biotech News

Here’s some of the latest news about LEGN:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter EPS was $0.14, above the $0.01 consensus, while revenue increased 32% year over year. CARVYKTI net trade sales rose 36% to about $710 million. Quarterly results
• Positive Sentiment: Legend reported about $853 million in cash and time deposits. It also highlighted long-term CARVYKTI data and FDA clearance for an investigational dual-targeting CAR-T therapy. Company results and pipeline updates
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue of $359.5 million narrowly missed analysts’ roughly $361.5 million estimate, and the company’s Q4 gross-margin outlook was revised to the high-50% range—adding to concerns about near-term performance. Q3 earnings call transcript

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.