Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Has $33.94 Million Position in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 148,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,340 shares during the period. Ascendis Pharma A/S makes up 1.9% of Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned about 0.24% of Ascendis Pharma A/S worth $33,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 216.7% during the first quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 95,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $21,729,000 after buying an additional 65,000 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 1st quarter worth about $26,837,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 1st quarter valued at about $20,922,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 24.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 351,146 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,318,000 after acquiring an additional 69,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 47.6% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,210 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of ASND stock opened at $253.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $244.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.45. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 12-month low of $160.86 and a 12-month high of $282.15. The firm has a market cap of $15.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.28 and a beta of 0.37.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $285.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.47 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASND has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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 for the company. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $342.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ascendis Pharma A/S has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $296.72.

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.