Dorsey Wright & Associates Acquires 3,375 Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Dorsey Wright & Associates lifted its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 39.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,879 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,375 shares during the quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates’ holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $2,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $15,693,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 57.5% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 43,701 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,319,000 after buying an additional 15,950 shares in the last quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 119,095 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,396,000 after acquiring an additional 25,148 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 230,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $52,671,000 after purchasing an additional 43,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 308,190 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $65,718,000 after acquiring an additional 112,986 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total transaction of $4,641,015.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime bought 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $237.80 per share, for a total transaction of $95,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 400 shares in the company, valued at $95,120. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 40.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $330.00 to $326.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $342.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $295.67.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

Ascendis Pharma A/S stock opened at $261.00 on Friday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1 year low of $160.86 and a 1 year high of $282.15. The stock has a market cap of $16.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.10 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $242.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $232.02. 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 (NASDAQ:ASND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $285.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.47 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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.