Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Shares Up 11.8% – Here’s What Happened

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) rose 11.8% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $243.88 and last traded at $266.0220. Approximately 82,776 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 675,376 shares. The stock had previously closed at $238.01.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASND has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $262.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $342.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $295.39.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $16.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.08 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.66.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $285.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.47 million. Equities research analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ascendis Pharma A/S

In other news, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime acquired 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $237.80 per share, for a total transaction of $95,120.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,120. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total transaction of $4,641,015.40. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 40.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ascendis Pharma A/S

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,441 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Certuity LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 1,170 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.4% during the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 34.0% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 72 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.