Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) Stock Price Target Lowered at Morgan Stanley

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) had its price target dropped by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $49.00 to $43.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 123.88% from the stock’s previous close.

LEGN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Legend Biotech in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Legend Biotech in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Legend Biotech from $40.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Legend Biotech from $68.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Legend Biotech from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Legend Biotech has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.85.

Legend Biotech Trading Down 5.9%

NASDAQ:LEGN traded down $1.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $19.21. 1,496,319 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,406,237. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $19.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.12. Legend Biotech has a 1 year low of $16.24 and a 1 year high of $37.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -76.86 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Legend Biotech

In other news, 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Carlos 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $130,208.44. The trade was a 27.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Legend Biotech

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Legend Biotech during the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,307,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Legend Biotech by 343.6% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 406,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,361,000 after acquiring an additional 315,176 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 289,772 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Legend Biotech by 215.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 324,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,878,000 after purchasing an additional 221,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 119,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.89% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Legend Biotech

These are some of the LEGN headlines that stood out recently:

• 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

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.