Assetmark Inc. Boosts Position in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 143.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,792 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,414 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $1,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 1.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,901,843 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $328,258,000 after acquiring an additional 23,926 shares in the last quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 2nd quarter valued at $166,367,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2,722.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 793,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $157,791,000 after buying an additional 765,561 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 14.9% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 40.4% during the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 459,606 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $79,328,000 after buying an additional 132,201 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $322.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $325.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $246.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $240.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $284.00.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Down 2.3%

NASDAQ:ASND opened at $225.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.14 and a beta of 0.44. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 52 week low of $124.06 and a 52 week high of $242.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $216.58 and a 200 day moving average of $206.65.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.58). The firm had revenue of $290.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $285.35 million. As a group, analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 EPS for the current year.

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.