Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND – Free Report) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 596,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 64,609 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $127,241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the second quarter valued at $552,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.0% in the second 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 period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 66.2% in the second 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 period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 83.4% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 201,044 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $34,700,000 after purchasing an additional 91,412 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the second quarter valued at $897,000.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts have commented on ASND shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $246.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Friday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.39.
Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Down 2.2%
Shares of NASDAQ:ASND opened at $205.81 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $12.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $232.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $223.57. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $160.86 and a fifty-two week high of $250.74.
Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $285.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.47 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 12.85 earnings per share for the current year.
Insider Activity
In other news, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S stock in a transaction dated 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $237.80 per share, for a total transaction of $95,120.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,120. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 40.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.
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.
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