15,500 Shares in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND Bought by Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC

Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC purchased a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 15,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,305,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HighVista Strategies LLC lifted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 138.1% in the third quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 7,082 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,408,000 after buying an additional 4,108 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 544,606 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $108,274,000 after buying an additional 13,797 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2,722.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 793,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $157,791,000 after buying an additional 765,561 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the third quarter worth $15,693,000. Finally, Avoro Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2.6% in the third quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,110,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,015,919,000 after buying an additional 130,000 shares during the last quarter.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Down 5.6%

Shares of ASND opened at $224.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85 and a beta of 0.41. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 12-month low of $158.16 and a 12-month high of $250.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $233.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $223.08.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $285.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.47 million. Equities research analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ascendis Pharma A/S

In other Ascendis Pharma A/S news, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime acquired 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $237.80 per share, with a total value of $95,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at $95,120. The trade was a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total transaction of $4,641,015.40. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 40.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Friday, May 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $262.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $342.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ascendis Pharma A/S currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.39.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Profile

Ascendis Pharma A/S is a Denmark?based biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative therapies for rare endocrine diseases. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Hellerup, the company leverages its proprietary TransCon drug delivery platform to create long?acting prodrugs designed to improve safety, efficacy and patient convenience. Ascendis Pharma maintains research and development operations in Europe and the United States, with clinical studies spanning North America, Europe and Asia.

The company’s lead product, lonapegsomatropin (Skytrofa®), is a once?weekly growth hormone therapy approved by the U.S.