Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $250.74 and last traded at $246.1450, with a volume of 100005 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $239.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ASND. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays began coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $342.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. 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 research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $289.89.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Trading Up 0.5%

The firm has a market capitalization of $15.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -56.78 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $228.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $216.11.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.58). The company had revenue of $290.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $285.35 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ascendis Pharma A/S

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ASND. Perceptive Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the second quarter valued at $166,367,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 95.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,798,931 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $357,645,000 after purchasing an additional 880,836 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2,722.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 793,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $157,791,000 after purchasing an additional 765,561 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP increased its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 200.0% in the third quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 600,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $119,286,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spyglass Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the third quarter valued at about $77,267,000.

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.