Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND Shares Purchased by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 243.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 251,833 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 178,415 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.40% of Ascendis Pharma A/S worth $56,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perceptive Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 2nd quarter worth $166,367,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 95.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,798,931 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $357,645,000 after acquiring an additional 880,836 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 200.0% in the third quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 600,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $119,286,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Spyglass Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the third quarter worth about $77,267,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,026,407 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $218,871,000 after acquiring an additional 232,730 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on ASND. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $330.00 to $326.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $295.39.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Up 1.1%

Ascendis Pharma A/S stock opened at $263.70 on Tuesday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a fifty-two week low of $160.86 and a fifty-two week high of $271.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.42 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $232.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $226.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last released 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. Analysts predict that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Ascendis Pharma A/S news, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime bought 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $237.80 per share, for a total transaction of $95,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,120. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were 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. 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.