Sterling Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 6.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,509 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,432 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Ascendis Pharma A/S worth $9,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ASND. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 291.1% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 352 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 332.9% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 355 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 2nd quarter worth about $202,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ASND shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $260.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $203.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $295.00 price objective (up previously from $289.00) on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $290.00 target price (up previously from $243.00) on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $249.80.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

NASDAQ ASND opened at $199.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.62 and a beta of 0.44. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 12 month low of $118.03 and a 12 month high of $216.45. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $201.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.94.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.93) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.42) by $0.49. The company had revenue of $216.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.17 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 EPS for the current year.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Profile

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.