Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Stock Rating Raised to Hold at Canaccord Genuity Group

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) was upgraded by analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $360.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. HC Wainwright set a $344.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Thursday, September 10th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $269.00 price objective (down from $307.00) on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.95.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

ASND opened at $245.15 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a fifty day moving average of $242.53 and a 200 day moving average of $237.18. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a fifty-two week low of $188.07 and a fifty-two week high of $282.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 2.99.

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 company had revenue of $387.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $376.75 million. Ascendis Pharma A/S had a return on equity of 32.54% and a net margin of 70.99%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ascendis Pharma A/S

In other news, Director Jean-Jacques Bienaimé acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $246.33 per share, for a total transaction of $492,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $714,357. The trade was a 222.22% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mads Bodenhoff sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.19, for a total transaction of $810,570.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly 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. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 40.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ascendis Pharma A/S

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Perceptive Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 41.6% during the 1st quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 1,531,421 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $350,282,000 after buying an additional 450,000 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 24.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 351,146 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,318,000 after acquiring an additional 69,673 shares during the period. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. grew its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 68.9% in the 2nd quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 225,155 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $60,053,000 after acquiring an additional 91,822 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 243.0% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 251,833 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,907,000 after acquiring an additional 178,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. increased its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 230,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $52,671,000 after acquiring an additional 43,338 shares in the last quarter.

About Ascendis Pharma A/S

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.