First Trust Advisors LP Has $7.12 Million Stock Holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 154.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 31,135 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,905 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $7,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ASND. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Arax Advisory Partners grew its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 212.2% in the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 153 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 111.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 214 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ASND. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Monday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $355.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $262.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays upped their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $342.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $296.72.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

ASND stock opened at $243.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.13 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.00. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 52-week low of $167.27 and a 52-week high of $282.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $244.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $234.90.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $285.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.47 million. Research analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ascendis Pharma A/S

In related news, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime bought 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $237.80 per share, with a total value of $95,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,120. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total value of $4,641,015.40. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 40.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.