Capital International Sarl Sells 5,919 Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Capital International Sarl trimmed its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 19.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,943 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 5,919 shares during the quarter. Capital International Sarl’s holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $5,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ASND. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 2nd quarter worth about $552,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,441 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 66.2% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,737 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 1,488 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 83.4% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 201,044 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,700,000 after buying an additional 91,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 2nd quarter worth about $897,000.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASND opened at $210.45 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $233.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $223.65. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 52-week low of $160.86 and a 52-week high of $250.74.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $285.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.47 million. Analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 12.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ascendis Pharma A/S

In related news, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime acquired 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $237.80 per share, with a total value of $95,120.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,120. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total value of $4,641,015.40. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 40.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on ASND. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Bank of America raised their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $262.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $332.00 target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.39.

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.