Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) Stock Price Down 5.8% After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Legend Biotech shares fell 5.8% to $19.23 after RBC cut its price target from $56 to $50, while maintaining an Outperform rating.
• Analysts remain moderately positive overall: the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $53.69.
• In Q3, Legend reported adjusted EPS of $0.14, above the $0.01 consensus, and revenue growth of 32% year over year to $359.5 million; CARVYKTI net sales rose 36% to about $710 million.

Legend Biotech Corporation Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:LEGN - Get Free Report) fell 5.8% during trading on Wednesday after Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $56.00 to $50.00. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Legend Biotech traded as low as $19.52 and last traded at $19.23. Approximately 317,877 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 2,400,846 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.41.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on LEGN. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Legend Biotech in a report on Monday, September 28th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Legend Biotech from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $75.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Legend Biotech from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Legend Biotech in a report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating on shares of Legend Biotech in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Legend Biotech presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Legend Biotech

In related news, CFO Carlos E. Santos sold 5,430 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 14,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $130,208.44. This represents a 27.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Corazon (Corsee) D. Sanders sold 27,370 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 52,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at $498,835.26. This represents a 34.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Latest Legend Biotech News

Investors following LEGN have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: CARVYKTI net trade sales rose 36% year over year to about $710 million in Q3. Legend also reported adjusted EPS of $0.14, above the $0.01 consensus, while revenue grew 32% to $359.5 million. Legend Biotech Q3 results
• Positive Sentiment: The company said it is targeting adjusted profitability in 2026 and received FDA clearance to begin an investigational in-vivo CAR-T therapy trial, adding a potential pipeline opportunity. Profitability target and margin outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Reports said investors were concerned about decelerating U.S. demand for CARVYKTI. Legend also revised its Q4 gross-margin outlook to the high-50% range, raising near-term profitability concerns. Article on CARVYKTI demand concerns

Institutional Trading of Legend Biotech

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LEGN. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Legend Biotech in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $55,307,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Legend Biotech by 60.4% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 769,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,216,000 after buying an additional 289,772 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Legend Biotech by 29.5% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 521,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,439,000 after buying an additional 119,000 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Legend Biotech by 343.6% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 406,901 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,361,000 after buying an additional 315,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Legend Biotech by 34.0% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 240,476 shares of the company's stock worth $6,945,000 after buying an additional 61,023 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.89% of the company's stock.

Legend Biotech Stock Down 6.4%

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $19.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of -76.86 and a beta of 0.55.

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 10th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company posted ($0.05) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Legend Biotech Corporation Sponsored ADR will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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