Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $328.00 to $326.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $268.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, October 26th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $327.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $306.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.95.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

Shares of ASND opened at $256.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90 and a beta of 0.40. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a fifty-two week low of $188.07 and a fifty-two week high of $282.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.99 and a quick ratio of 2.32. The business’s 50-day moving average is $242.61 and its 200-day moving average is $239.36.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The biotechnology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.68). Ascendis Pharma A/S had a return on equity of 32.54% and a net margin of 70.99%. The company had revenue of $387.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $376.75 million. Equities research analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Perceptive Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $350,282,000 after purchasing an additional 450,000 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 24.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 351,146 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,318,000 after purchasing an additional 69,673 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. increased its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 68.9% during the second quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 225,155 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $60,053,000 after buying an additional 91,822 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 27.0% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 227,013 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $51,602,000 after buying an additional 48,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orbimed Advisors LLC increased its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 5.8% during the first quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 181,977 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $41,624,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter.

About Ascendis Pharma A/S

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.