Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Increases Position in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 148,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,340 shares during the period. Ascendis Pharma A/S makes up approximately 1.9% of Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $33,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 2nd quarter valued at about $552,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,441 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $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 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,737 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position 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 last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the second quarter valued at approximately $897,000.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASND opened at $253.86 on Friday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1 year low of $160.86 and a 1 year high of $282.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company’s 50-day moving average is $244.08 and its 200 day moving average is $233.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.28 and a beta of 0.37.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $285.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.47 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASND has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $355.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Friday, May 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ascendis Pharma A/S presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $296.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime purchased 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $237.80 per share, for a total transaction of $95,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,120. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total value of $4,641,015.40. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 40.00% of the company’s stock.

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.