Ascendis Pharma A/S’s (ASND) “Overweight” Rating Reaffirmed at Cantor Fitzgerald

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $300.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 32.98% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $287.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $306.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued 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 $310.75.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

Shares of ASND stock opened at $225.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.07 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50 and a beta of 0.35. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 12 month low of $186.05 and a 12 month high of $282.15. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $251.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $242.29. The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The biotechnology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.68). The company had revenue of $387.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $376.75 million. Ascendis Pharma A/S had a return on equity of 32.54% and a net margin of 70.99%. Equities research analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jean-Jacques Bienaimé purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $246.33 per share, for a total transaction of $492,660.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $714,357. This represents a 222.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mads Bodenhoff sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.19, for a total value of $810,570.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $810,570. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 40.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ascendis Pharma A/S

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ASND. Perceptive Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 450,000 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 24.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 351,146 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,318,000 after purchasing an additional 69,673 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 106.3% in the fourth quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 352,109 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $75,084,000 after purchasing an additional 181,408 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. lifted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 68.9% during the second quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 225,155 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $60,053,000 after purchasing an additional 91,822 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 243.0% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 251,833 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,907,000 after buying an additional 178,415 shares in the last quarter.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Company Profile

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) 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 the effectiveness, convenience, and tolerability of established treatments.

Ascendis’ marketed products include Skytrofa (lonapegsomatropin-tcgd), a long-acting growth hormone approved for the treatment of growth hormone deficiency in children, and Yorvipath (palopegteriparatide), a hormone replacement therapy for adults with hypoparathyroidism.