Empowered Funds LLC Has $11.70 Million Holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 39.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,135 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,438 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $11,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 880,836 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 29.3% during the 4th 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. Perceptive Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 2nd quarter worth $166,367,000. Vestal Point Capital LP raised its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 200.0% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 478,641 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $102,065,000 after acquiring an additional 19,301 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASND has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $262.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Citigroup started coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Monday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $355.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $296.72.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

ASND stock opened at $252.05 on Thursday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1-year low of $163.88 and a 1-year high of $282.15. 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 $15.72 billion, a PE ratio of 29.07 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $244.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $234.50.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $285.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.47 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total transaction of $4,641,015.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime acquired 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $237.80 per share, for a total transaction of $95,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,120. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 40.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.