Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) Given "Buy" Rating at HC Wainwright

Key Points

• HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating on Legend Biotech and set a $65 price target, implying 237.31% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with nine Buy ratings, five Holds and one Sell; the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with a $55.29 target price.
• Legend Biotech reported quarterly revenue of $305.1 million, up 56.5% year over year, but missed EPS expectations and remained unprofitable with a negative 21.98% net margin.

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at HC Wainwright in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $65.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright's price target would suggest a potential upside of 237.31% from the company's previous close.

LEGN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Legend Biotech from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Legend Biotech from $63.00 to $59.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $28.00 price objective (down from $49.00) on shares of Legend Biotech in a report on Monday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of Legend Biotech in a research report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of 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, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.29.

Legend Biotech Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LEGN opened at $19.27 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.39. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.34 and a beta of 0.34. Legend Biotech has a 1 year low of $16.24 and a 1 year high of $43.71.

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $305.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 56.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.07) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Legend Biotech will post -0.01 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Legend Biotech news, CEO Ying Huang sold 5,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.78, for a total transaction of $82,265.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 241,872 shares in the company, valued at $3,574,868.16. This represents a 2.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Legend Biotech

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Legend Biotech in the second quarter valued at $411,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Legend Biotech by 77.6% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 148,681 shares of the company's stock worth $5,277,000 after purchasing an additional 64,956 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Legend Biotech by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 84,081 shares of the company's stock worth $2,984,000 after purchasing an additional 11,771 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Legend Biotech by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,560,596 shares of the company's stock worth $55,386,000 after purchasing an additional 52,344 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Legend Biotech in the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,790,000. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.