Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Stock Rating Upgraded by Citigroup

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) was upgraded by investment analysts at Citigroup to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, March 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $290.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $342.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ascendis Pharma A/S currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $295.39.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of ASND opened at $237.96 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $14.84 billion, a PE ratio of 27.45 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s fifty day moving average is $232.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $221.06. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a fifty-two week low of $153.49 and a fifty-two week high of $250.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $285.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.47 million. Analysts forecast that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 12.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ascendis Pharma A/S news, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total value of $4,641,015.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 40.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ascendis Pharma A/S

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASND. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Arax Advisory Partners lifted its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 212.2% in the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 153 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 228 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter.

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.