Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Raises Stock Holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 243.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 251,833 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 178,415 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $56,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 2nd quarter valued at about $552,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,441 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 66.2% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,737 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 83.4% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 201,044 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,700,000 after buying an additional 91,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the second quarter worth about $897,000.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ ASND opened at $263.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.45 billion, a PE ratio of 30.42 and a beta of 0.39. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $232.85 and a 200-day moving average of $226.26. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 52-week low of $160.86 and a 52-week high of $271.89.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $285.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.47 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ascendis Pharma A/S news, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime acquired 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $237.80 per share, for a total transaction of $95,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at $95,120. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the business’s 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 40.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ASND shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $342.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued 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 Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ascendis Pharma A/S currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $295.39.

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.