HighVista Strategies LLC Acquires 4,108 Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

HighVista Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 138.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,082 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,108 shares during the quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC’s holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $1,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Perceptive Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the second quarter worth $166,367,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 95.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,798,931 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $357,645,000 after purchasing an additional 880,836 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2,722.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 793,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $157,791,000 after purchasing an additional 765,561 shares during the last quarter. Spyglass Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 3rd quarter worth $77,267,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 5,803.2% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 183,886 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $36,558,000 after purchasing an additional 180,771 shares during the period.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ ASND opened at $225.98 on Monday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1-year low of $124.06 and a 1-year high of $248.60. The company has a market capitalization of $14.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.36 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $224.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.33.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.58). The firm had revenue of $290.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $285.35 million. On average, analysts predict that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays started coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $342.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $332.00 price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wedbush upped their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $240.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $246.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $322.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $289.88.

Ascendis Pharma A/S 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.