Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on ASND. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $328.00 to $326.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 31st. Bank of America reduced their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $306.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $269.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $360.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.95.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASND opened at $259.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a twelve month low of $188.07 and a twelve month high of $282.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $242.74 and a 200-day moving average of $239.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 0.40.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The biotechnology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.68). The company had revenue of $387.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $376.75 million. Ascendis Pharma A/S had a return on equity of 32.54% and a net margin of 70.99%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 3.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ascendis Pharma A/S

In other Ascendis Pharma A/S news, Director Jean-Jacques Bienaimé acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $246.33 per share, for a total transaction of $492,660.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 2,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $714,357. This represents a 222.22% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mads Bodenhoff sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.19, for a total transaction of $810,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $810,570. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 40.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ascendis Pharma A/S

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Perceptive Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 41.6% in the 1st quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 1,531,421 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $350,282,000 after acquiring an additional 450,000 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,837,000. Troluce Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 1st quarter valued at about $22,782,000. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 2nd quarter valued at about $24,581,000. Finally, Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. boosted its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 68.9% during the 2nd quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 225,155 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $60,053,000 after purchasing an additional 91,822 shares during the last quarter.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Company Profile

Ascendis Pharma A/S is a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Denmark that develops medicines for rare diseases, with a focus on endocrinology. Founded in 2006, the company uses its TransCon technology platform to design therapies intended to provide sustained delivery of medicines.

Its commercial products include SKYTROFA (lonapegsomatropin), a once-weekly growth hormone treatment for children with growth hormone deficiency, and YORVIPATH (palopegteriparatide), a treatment for adults with hypoparathyroidism.