Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on ASND. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $262.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, March 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $330.00 to $326.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.39.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASND opened at $274.50 on Friday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 52-week low of $160.86 and a 52-week high of $274.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $235.29 and a 200-day moving average of $227.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.12 billion, a PE ratio of 31.66 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $285.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.47 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime purchased 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $237.80 per share, with a total value of $95,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 400 shares in the company, valued at $95,120. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 40.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ascendis Pharma A/S

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.0% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,441 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Certuity LLC lifted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 1,170 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 34.0% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 72 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.