Short Interest in Legend Biotech Co. (NASDAQ:LEGN) Decreases By 8.9%

Legend Biotech Co. (NASDAQ:LEGN) saw a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 20,900,000 shares, a drop of 8.9% from the December 15th total of 22,950,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,520,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 13.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LEGN. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $86.00 price target on shares of Legend Biotech in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Legend Biotech in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Legend Biotech in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $86.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Legend Biotech in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Legend Biotech in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.62.

Legend Biotech Stock Performance

Shares of Legend Biotech stock opened at $32.66 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.09. The company has a current ratio of 4.98, a quick ratio of 4.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Legend Biotech has a 12 month low of $30.17 and a 12 month high of $70.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.38 and a beta of 0.16.

Legend Biotech (NASDAQ:LEGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by $0.22. Legend Biotech had a negative return on equity of 29.69% and a negative net margin of 66.92%. The company had revenue of $160.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $143.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.17) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 66.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Legend Biotech will post -1.24 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Legend Biotech by 11.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 26,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,166,000 after buying an additional 2,704 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of Legend Biotech by 18.3% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 11,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Legend Biotech by 31.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,571 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in Legend Biotech by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 232,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,296,000 after buying an additional 20,910 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its holdings in shares of Legend Biotech by 11.8% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 12,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.89% of the company’s stock.

About Legend Biotech

Legend Biotech Corporation, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the discovery, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of novel cell therapies for oncology and other indications in the United States, China, and internationally. Its lead product candidate, LCAR- B38M, is a chimeric antigen receptor for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM).