Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Shares Down 5.6% – Should You Sell?

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) shares traded down 5.6% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $207.62 and last traded at $206.64. 11,627 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 98% from the average session volume of 681,383 shares. The stock had previously closed at $218.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ASND. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $262.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $342.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $332.00 price target on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $295.39.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $12.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $233.16 and its 200-day moving average is $223.65.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $285.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.47 million. Equities research analysts predict that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 12.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ascendis Pharma A/S

In other Ascendis Pharma A/S news, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime purchased 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $237.80 per share, with a total value of $95,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,120. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total transaction of $4,641,015.40. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 40.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ascendis Pharma A/S

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASND. Perceptive Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $166,367,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 95.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,798,931 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $357,645,000 after purchasing an additional 880,836 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 600,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $119,286,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Spyglass Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 3rd quarter valued at $77,267,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,026,407 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $218,871,000 after purchasing an additional 232,730 shares in the last quarter.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Company Profile

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.