Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) Stock Price Up 7.7% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Shares jumped 7.7% on Monday to about $25.42, with roughly 1.67 million shares traded—about 26% below the stock's average daily volume.
• Analysts hold a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $58.31 (11 Buys, 3 Holds, 1 Sell), implying substantial upside from current levels.
• Legend reported a quarterly EPS beat ($0.01 vs. -$0.17 expected) and revenue up 64.2% year‑over‑year to $306.3M, but remains unprofitable with a negative net margin (~-28.9%) and negative ROE; market cap is about $4.9B.

Legend Biotech Corporation Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:LEGN - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 7.7% on Monday . The company traded as high as $25.46 and last traded at $25.4160. Approximately 1,669,655 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the average daily volume of 2,260,833 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.59.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LEGN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Legend Biotech in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Legend Biotech in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial lowered Legend Biotech from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Legend Biotech in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Legend Biotech from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.31.

Legend Biotech Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.62 and a 200 day moving average of $22.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.13 and a beta of 0.29.

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.18. The business had revenue of $306.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.21 million. Legend Biotech had a negative return on equity of 21.93% and a negative net margin of 28.86%.Legend Biotech's quarterly revenue was up 64.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.07 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Legend Biotech Corporation Sponsored ADR will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Legend Biotech news, CEO Ying Huang sold 9,936 shares of Legend Biotech stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.77, for a total value of $87,138.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 247,438 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,170,031.26. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Legend Biotech

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEGN. Suvretta Capital Management LLC raised its position in Legend Biotech by 73.1% in the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 6,608,629 shares of the company's stock worth $143,672,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790,620 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Legend Biotech by 120.5% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,174,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,274,000 after buying an additional 1,188,449 shares during the period. Davern Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Legend Biotech in the fourth quarter valued at $22,972,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Legend Biotech by 4,129.8% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 755,953 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,434,000 after buying an additional 738,081 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Legend Biotech in the second quarter valued at $15,790,000. Institutional investors 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.

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