Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Buys Shares of 2,600 Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $595,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ASND. Perceptive Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the second quarter valued at approximately $166,367,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 95.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,798,931 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $357,645,000 after acquiring an additional 880,836 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP increased its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 600,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $119,286,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,026,407 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $218,871,000 after acquiring an additional 232,730 shares during the period. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 106.3% in the 4th quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 352,109 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $75,084,000 after purchasing an additional 181,408 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime acquired 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $237.80 per share, with a total value of $95,120.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,120. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was 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. Insiders own 40.00% of the company’s stock.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S stock opened at $265.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1 year low of $160.86 and a 1 year high of $282.15. The firm has a market cap of $16.54 billion, a PE ratio of 30.59 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.69.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $285.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.47 million. Analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America upped 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. Citigroup started coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Monday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $355.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started 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 for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $295.67.

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.