Diversified Trust Co. Sells 3,430 Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Diversified Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,251 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 3,430 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. owned approximately 0.07% of Ascendis Pharma A/S worth $9,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighVista Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 138.1% in the third quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 7,082 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,408,000 after purchasing an additional 4,108 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 544,606 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $108,274,000 after purchasing an additional 13,797 shares in the last quarter. Sector Gamma AS lifted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 43.1% during the third quarter. Sector Gamma AS now owns 24,327 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,836,000 after purchasing an additional 7,327 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Braun Stacey Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $18,678,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $342.00 target price for the company. Wedbush raised their price target on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $240.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Thursday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $289.89.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

NASDAQ ASND opened at $218.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $13.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -49.56 and a beta of 0.43. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a fifty-two week low of $124.06 and a fifty-two week high of $248.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.53.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.58). The firm had revenue of $290.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $285.35 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

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.