Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Trading Down 7.6% – Here’s What Happened

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) fell 7.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $218.08 and last traded at $219.44. 503,519 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 680,507 shares. The stock had previously closed at $237.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ASND shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, March 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $246.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.39.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company’s 50 day moving average is $233.59 and its 200 day moving average is $223.07. The stock has a market cap of $13.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.69 and a beta of 0.41.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $285.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.47 million. Research analysts forecast that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total value of $4,641,015.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $237.80 per share, with a total value 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 position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 40.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ascendis Pharma A/S

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the second quarter valued at $552,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.0% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,441 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 66.2% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,737 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 83.4% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 201,044 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $34,700,000 after purchasing an additional 91,412 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the second quarter valued at $897,000.

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.