Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Makes New $5.72 Million Investment in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ purchased a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 28,767 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,719,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 57.2% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 228 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 291.1% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 352 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 115.3% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 478 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 595 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ASND shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $325.00 target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $246.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ascendis Pharma A/S has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $284.00.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

Shares of ASND stock opened at $230.08 on Friday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1-year low of $124.06 and a 1-year high of $242.00. The company has a market cap of $14.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.29 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $216.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.37.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.58). The company had revenue of $290.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $285.35 million. Analysts anticipate that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.