Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND)

Equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $290.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 27.16% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $246.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $342.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ascendis Pharma A/S currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $289.89.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

NASDAQ ASND opened at $228.06 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.83 and a beta of 0.43. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1-year low of $124.06 and a 1-year high of $248.60. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $224.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.83.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.58). The company had revenue of $290.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $285.35 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ascendis Pharma A/S

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.0% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,441 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 1.0% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,081 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Certuity LLC boosted its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 1,170 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,186 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,103,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period.

About Ascendis Pharma A/S

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.