Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Monday, March 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $332.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $342.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $262.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ascendis Pharma A/S presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $295.39.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

ASND stock opened at $230.83 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $232.32 and a 200-day moving average of $224.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a PE ratio of 26.62 and a beta of 0.39. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a one year low of $160.86 and a one year high of $250.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $285.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.47 million. As a group, analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ascendis Pharma A/S

In other Ascendis Pharma A/S news, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime purchased 400 shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,120. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of Ascendis Pharma A/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 transaction of $4,641,015.40. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 40.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ascendis Pharma A/S

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Arax Advisory Partners boosted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 212.2% during the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 153 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 228 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter.

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.