Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $239.65 and last traded at $238.80, with a volume of 278819 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $233.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $260.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $254.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ascendis Pharma A/S has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $269.00.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $211.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $200.65. The company has a market cap of $14.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -53.78, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.46.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.41) by ($0.76). The firm had revenue of $250.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $246.91 million. As a group, analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ascendis Pharma A/S

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 200,257 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,444,000 after buying an additional 10,644 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 144.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 9,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,605,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.5% during the second quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,732 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $635,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 83.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,730 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,751,000 after acquiring an additional 9,879 shares during the last quarter.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Company 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.