Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND Shares Sold by Rock Springs Capital Management LP

Rock Springs Capital Management LP reduced its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 194,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 9,500 shares during the quarter. Ascendis Pharma A/S comprises approximately 2.6% of Rock Springs Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Rock Springs Capital Management LP’s holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $44,374,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the third quarter worth $26,000. Arax Advisory Partners raised its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 212.2% in the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 153 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 111.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 214 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $330.00 to $326.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $355.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ascendis Pharma A/S currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $296.72.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S stock opened at $253.42 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $15.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23 and a beta of 0.37. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1-year low of $160.86 and a 1-year high of $282.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $244.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.91.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $285.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.47 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total value of $4,641,015.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime acquired 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the purchase, the director owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,120. This trade represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 40.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.