Sapient Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 92,162 Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 92,162 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,581,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Arax Advisory Partners boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 212.2% during the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 153 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of ASND stock opened at $271.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.03 and a beta of 0.35. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 12-month low of $186.05 and a 12-month high of $282.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $257.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $240.48.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The biotechnology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.68). The firm had revenue of $387.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $376.75 million. Ascendis Pharma A/S had a net margin of 70.99% and a return on equity of 32.54%. Equities research analysts predict that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ascendis Pharma A/S

In other Ascendis Pharma A/S news, Director Jean-Jacques Bienaimé acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $246.33 per share, with a total value of $492,660.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 2,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $714,357. This represents a 222.22% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 40.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $345.00 to $329.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $330.00 to $326.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $328.00 to $326.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Bank of America decreased their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $306.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $310.05.

About Ascendis Pharma A/S

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.