Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Stock Lifted to Buy by 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 published on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Thursday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $269.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $327.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $360.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.95.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASND opened at $256.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92 and a beta of 0.40. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 52 week low of $188.07 and a 52 week high of $282.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $242.50 and a 200 day moving average of $239.00.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The biotechnology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.68). The firm had revenue of $387.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 3.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jean-Jacques Bienaimé purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $246.33 per share, for a total transaction of $492,660.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,900 shares in the company, valued at $714,357. This trade represents a 222.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mads Bodenhoff sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.19, for a total value of $810,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $810,570. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 40.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ascendis Pharma A/S

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perceptive Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 41.6% in the first quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 1,531,421 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $350,282,000 after buying an additional 450,000 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 69,673 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 27.0% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 227,013 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $51,602,000 after acquiring an additional 48,275 shares during the period. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 68.9% during the 2nd quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 225,155 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $60,053,000 after acquiring an additional 91,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orbimed Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 181,977 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $41,624,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Company Profile

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.