Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND Stock: Sterling Capital Management LLC Reduces Position

Sterling Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 29.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,690 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 4,037 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $2,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 34.0% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 103.4% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 240 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 94.9% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 304 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 3,491.7% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 431 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the third quarter worth approximately $139,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ASND. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $333.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $309.26.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

Ascendis Pharma A/S stock opened at $243.37 on Monday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a twelve month low of $188.07 and a twelve month high of $282.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $243.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $242.90. 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 $15.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88 and a beta of 0.38.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The biotechnology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.68). The company had revenue of $387.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $376.75 million. Ascendis Pharma A/S had a net margin of 70.99% and a return on equity of 32.54%. As a group, research analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ascendis Pharma A/S

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

Ascendis Pharma A/S Profile

Ascendis Pharma A/S is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for rare diseases. The company uses its proprietary TransCon technology platform to design long-acting medicines intended to improve treatment convenience, maintain controlled drug exposure, and address unmet medical needs.

Its commercial products include SKYTROFA (lonape­gsomatropin-tcgd), a once-weekly growth hormone treatment for children with growth hormone deficiency, and YORVIPATH (palopegteriparatide), a once-daily therapy for adults with hypoparathyroidism.