Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $236.25 and last traded at $226.78, with a volume of 669088 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $216.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ASND shares. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Friday, October 17th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $271.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $254.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.44.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $14.59 billion, a PE ratio of -53.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $210.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $199.41.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.41) by ($0.76). The company had revenue of $250.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $246.91 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ascendis Pharma A/S

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 8,579 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,829,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787 shares during the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 2,756 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,455 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period.

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.