Barometer Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Barometer Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 95.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,170 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 87,222 shares during the period. Barometer Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 43,701 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,319,000 after purchasing an additional 15,950 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 23.2% during the first quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 230,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $52,671,000 after buying an additional 43,338 shares during the period. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 119,095 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,396,000 after buying an additional 25,148 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 57.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 308,190 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $65,718,000 after buying an additional 112,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 4th quarter worth about $1,384,000.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASND opened at $255.20 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $243.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $232.76. 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 company has a market capitalization of $15.92 billion, a PE ratio of 29.43 and a beta of 0.37. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1-year low of $160.86 and a 1-year 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $285.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.47 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime bought 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $237.80 per share, for a total transaction of $95,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,120. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the company’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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 40.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASND has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Friday, May 15th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $262.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $295.67.

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.