Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

ASND has been the topic of several other reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Friday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $333.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $345.00 to $329.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $328.00 to $326.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $313.21.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

NASDAQ:ASND opened at $229.23 on Friday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 52 week low of $186.05 and a 52 week high of $282.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $246.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $242.31. The company has a market capitalization of $14.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.78 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The biotechnology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.68). The business had revenue of $387.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $376.75 million. Ascendis Pharma A/S had a net margin of 70.99% and a return on equity of 32.54%. Equities analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Mads Bodenhoff sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.19, for a total value of $810,570.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $810,570. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jean-Jacques Bienaimé acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $246.33 per share, for a total transaction of $492,660.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $714,357. This trade represents a 222.22% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase 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 the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 103.4% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 240 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 34.0% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 94.9% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 304 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 3,491.7% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 431 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Company Profile

Ascendis Pharma A/S is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for rare diseases, particularly in endocrinology. The company uses its proprietary TransCon technology platform to design medicines intended to provide sustained release of therapeutic compounds and potentially improve treatment convenience and patient outcomes.

Ascendis Pharma’s marketed products include Skytrofa (lonapegsomatropin-tcgb), a once-weekly growth hormone treatment for children with growth hormone deficiency, and Yorvipath (palopegteriparatide), a parathyroid hormone replacement therapy for adults with hypoparathyroidism.