Jean Jacques Bienaime Acquires 2,000 Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Stock

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Director Jean Jacques Bienaime purchased 2,000 shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $246.33 per share, for a total transaction of $492,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $714,357. This represents a 222.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Jean Jacques Bienaime also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, May 26th, Jean Jacques Bienaime acquired 400 shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $237.80 per share, with a total value of $95,120.00.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASND opened at $259.62 on Thursday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1 year low of $186.05 and a 1 year high of $282.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $252.15 and a 200-day moving average of $237.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14 and a beta of 0.39.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biotechnology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.68). The business had revenue of $387.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $376.75 million. Ascendis Pharma A/S had a return on equity of 32.54% and a net margin of 70.99%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASND has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup began coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $355.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $329.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Friday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $319.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ascendis Pharma A/S currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $300.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ascendis Pharma A/S

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 2nd quarter worth about $552,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,441 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 66.2% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,737 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 83.4% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 201,044 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,700,000 after buying an additional 91,412 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $897,000.

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.