SEB Asset Management AB Makes New Investment in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

SEB Asset Management AB bought a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 38,665 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,844,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ASND. Dorsey Wright & Associates boosted its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 39.7% during the first quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 11,879 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,717,000 after purchasing an additional 3,375 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 12.3% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,635 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the first quarter worth $978,000. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the first quarter valued at $901,000. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp lifted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 52.5% during the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 7,297 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 2,513 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $262.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays lifted 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 research report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $330.00 to $326.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $295.67.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S stock opened at $255.20 on Wednesday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1 year low of $160.86 and a 1 year high of $282.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $243.50 and its 200 day moving average is $232.76. The stock has a market cap of $15.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43 and a beta of 0.37. 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 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime purchased 400 shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S 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 transaction, the director directly owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,120. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total transaction of $4,641,015.40. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 40.00% of the company’s stock.

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.