Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Has $739.75 Million Holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership trimmed its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 6.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,720,880 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 269,544 shares during the quarter. Ascendis Pharma A/S accounts for 1.0% of Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 0.06% of Ascendis Pharma A/S worth $739,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ASND. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,294 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 596.5% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,159 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 1,849 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 3rd quarter valued at about $331,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 1.5% in the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 296,346 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $58,917,000 after acquiring an additional 4,256 shares during the period. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the third quarter valued at about $1,258,000.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

Shares of ASND stock opened at $228.99 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $218.56 and its 200-day moving average is $207.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.19 billion, a PE ratio of -52.04 and a beta of 0.44. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 52 week low of $124.06 and a 52 week high of $242.00.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.58). The company had revenue of $290.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $285.35 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASND has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $246.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $325.00 target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $322.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $284.00.

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.