Key Points
- Insider sale: Ascendis Pharma insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares on May 11 at an average price of $238.49, totaling about $4.64 million.
- Recent earnings beat: The biotech company reported quarterly EPS of $0.32, topping analysts’ estimate of $0.21, though revenue came in below expectations at $285.45 million versus $362.47 million.
- Wall Street sentiment remains positive: Analysts currently have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy on ASND, with an average price target of $291.50, and several firms recently reiterated bullish ratings.
Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Get Free Report) insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.
Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance
ASND opened at $237.65 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $14.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.41 and a beta of 0.41. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 52-week low of $150.89 and a 52-week high of $250.74. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $232.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $219.74.
Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $285.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $362.47 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ascendis Pharma A/S
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. HighVista Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 138.1% during the third quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 7,082 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,408,000 after acquiring an additional 4,108 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2.6% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 544,606 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $108,274,000 after acquiring an additional 13,797 shares during the last quarter. Sector Gamma AS increased its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 43.1% during the third quarter. Sector Gamma AS now owns 24,327 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,836,000 after acquiring an additional 7,327 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2,722.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 793,677 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $157,791,000 after acquiring an additional 765,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the third quarter valued at about $15,693,000.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ASND shares. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $324.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $332.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ascendis Pharma A/S currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $291.50.
View Our Latest Research Report on Ascendis Pharma A/S
Ascendis Pharma A/S Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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