Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $355.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $262.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $330.00 to $326.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $295.67.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASND opened at $261.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $242.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $232.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.10 and a beta of 0.37. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 52-week low of $160.86 and a 52-week high of $282.15.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 EPS 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ascendis Pharma A/S

In related news, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime bought 400 shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $237.80 per share, for a total transaction of $95,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at $95,120. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 40.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ascendis Pharma A/S

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Perceptive Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 2nd quarter valued at about $166,367,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 95.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,798,931 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $357,645,000 after purchasing an additional 880,836 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 200.0% in the third quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 600,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $119,286,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,026,407 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $218,871,000 after purchasing an additional 232,730 shares during the period. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 106.3% during the fourth quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 352,109 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $75,084,000 after purchasing an additional 181,408 shares during the period.

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.