GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Buys New Position in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,266 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $174,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 394.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 247 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 415.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 407 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 195.3% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,004 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ascendis Pharma A/S currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.07.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASND opened at $162.00 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.82 and a beta of 0.41. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1-year low of $111.09 and a 1-year high of $183.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $157.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.80.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($1.66) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.56) by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $123.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.56 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Ascendis Pharma A/S

Ascendis Pharma A/S, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing therapies for unmet medical needs. It offers SKYTROFA for treating patients with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). The company is also developing a pipeline of three independent endocrinology rare disease product candidates in clinical development, as well as focuses on advancing oncology therapeutic candidates.