Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND Shares Purchased by Castleark Management LLC

Castleark Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 55.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 66,336 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,680 shares during the quarter. Castleark Management LLC’s holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $14,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 57.2% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 228 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 111.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 214 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 75.2% in the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 226 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASND has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $342.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Friday, May 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ascendis Pharma A/S presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $295.39.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Trading Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:ASND opened at $218.06 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $232.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $223.57. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 52 week low of $160.86 and a 52 week high of $250.74. The company has a market capitalization of $13.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.15 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $285.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.47 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 14.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total value of $4,641,015.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime bought 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $237.80 per share, with a total value of $95,120.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,120. This trade represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 40.00% of the company’s stock.

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.