Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $295.3889.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ASND shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $330.00 to $326.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $355.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

NASDAQ:ASND opened at $231.15 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $14.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.66 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $232.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $224.09. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1-year low of $160.86 and a 1-year high of $250.74.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $285.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.47 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 14.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime purchased 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $237.80 per share, with a total value of $95,120.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 400 shares in the company, valued at $95,120. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total transaction of $4,641,015.40. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 40.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASND. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 2nd quarter valued at about $552,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,441 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 66.2% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,737 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 1,488 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 83.4% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 201,044 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $34,700,000 after buying an additional 91,412 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 2nd quarter valued at about $897,000.

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.