Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Brokerages

Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $309.26.

ASND has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $327.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Raymond James Financial downgraded Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $275.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jean-Jacques Bienaimé acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $246.33 per share, with a total value of $492,660.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 2,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $714,357. This represents a 222.22% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Mads Bodenhoff sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.19, for a total value of $810,570.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 40.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ascendis Pharma A/S

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 173.2% during the third quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 6,257 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 3,967 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,376,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the third quarter worth $377,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 28,468.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,428 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 5,409 shares during the period.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

Ascendis Pharma A/S stock opened at $243.37 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $243.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $242.90. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1-year low of $188.07 and a 1-year high of $282.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.99 and a quick ratio of 2.32.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The biotechnology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.68). The company had revenue of $387.22 million for 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 research analysts forecast that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Company Profile

Ascendis Pharma A/S is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for rare diseases. The company uses its proprietary TransCon technology platform to design long-acting medicines intended to improve treatment convenience, maintain controlled drug exposure, and address unmet medical needs.

Its commercial products include SKYTROFA (lonape­gsomatropin-tcgd), a once-weekly growth hormone treatment for children with growth hormone deficiency, and YORVIPATH (palopegteriparatide), a once-daily therapy for adults with hypoparathyroidism.