PSP Research LLC Makes New Investment in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

PSP Research LLC bought a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,579 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $550,000. Ascendis Pharma A/S makes up approximately 0.5% of PSP Research LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ASND. HighVista Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 138.1% in the third quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 7,082 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,408,000 after purchasing an additional 4,108 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 544,606 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $108,274,000 after purchasing an additional 13,797 shares during the last quarter. Sector Gamma AS raised its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 43.1% in the third quarter. Sector Gamma AS now owns 24,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,836,000 after purchasing an additional 7,327 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2,722.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 793,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $157,791,000 after purchasing an additional 765,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the third quarter worth $15,693,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 40.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on ASND. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $332.00 price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.39.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

NASDAQ ASND opened at $237.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.45 and a beta of 0.41. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $232.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $221.06. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a twelve month low of $153.49 and a twelve month high of $250.74.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $285.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.47 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 12.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Company 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.