Cormorant Asset Management LP Buys Shares of 100,000 Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Cormorant Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 100,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,324,000. Ascendis Pharma A/S accounts for 1.0% of Cormorant Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASND. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 2nd quarter valued at $552,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,441 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 66.2% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,737 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 83.4% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 201,044 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $34,700,000 after purchasing an additional 91,412 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 2nd quarter valued at $897,000.

Insider Transactions at Ascendis Pharma A/S

In related news, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total value of $4,641,015.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime acquired 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $237.80 per share, for a total transaction of $95,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,120. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 40.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Down 0.0%

ASND stock opened at $231.15 on Thursday. 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 52-week low of $160.86 and a 52-week high of $250.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $232.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.66 and a beta of 0.39.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $285.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.47 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 14.25 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $342.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Two research 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $295.39.

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.