Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lowered its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 8.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 147,090 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 13,020 shares during the quarter. Ascendis Pharma A/S comprises about 1.6% of Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned about 0.24% of Ascendis Pharma A/S worth $29,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ASND. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $257,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 115.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 478 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 33.7% during the third quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 595 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the third quarter valued at $919,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 15.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 735 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:ASND opened at $208.98 on Friday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 52 week low of $118.03 and a 52 week high of $229.94. The company’s 50 day moving average is $206.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.84. The company has a market cap of $12.94 billion, a PE ratio of -47.07 and a beta of 0.45.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.41) by ($0.76). The company had revenue of $250.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $246.91 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ASND. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating and a $255.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $260.00 to $264.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $254.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ascendis Pharma A/S currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.73.

Ascendis Pharma A/S 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.