ARS Investment Partners LLC Decreases Stock Position in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

ARS Investment Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 175,667 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 34,263 shares during the quarter. Ascendis Pharma A/S makes up 2.3% of ARS Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. ARS Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.28% of Ascendis Pharma A/S worth $34,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RA Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 1.7% in the first quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 10,281,496 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,602,474,000 after purchasing an additional 168,752 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,901,843 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $328,258,000 after buying an additional 23,926 shares in the last quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $166,367,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 585,581 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $91,269,000 after buying an additional 55,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 14.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 530,809 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $91,619,000 after buying an additional 68,638 shares in the last quarter.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ ASND opened at $212.71 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $205.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $193.46. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a twelve month low of $118.03 and a twelve month high of $229.94. The company has a market capitalization of $13.17 billion, a PE ratio of -47.91 and a beta of 0.45.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.41) by ($0.76). The business had revenue of $250.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $246.91 million. Equities analysts predict that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASND has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $254.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating and a $255.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $256.73.

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.