Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Director Jean Jacques Bienaime Purchases 2,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Director Jean Jacques Bienaime purchased 2,000 Ascendis Pharma shares at an average price of $246.33, investing $492,660 and increasing his holdings by 222.22% to 2,900 shares.
• Ascendis Pharma reported quarterly revenue of $387.22 million, exceeding estimates, but adjusted EPS of $1.03 fell short of the $1.71 consensus. Shares recently traded at $248.85.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $300.33, while several institutional investors have increased their positions.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Get Free Report) Director Jean Jacques Bienaime purchased 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $246.33 per share, for a total transaction of $492,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $714,357. This trade represents a 222.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Jean Jacques Bienaime also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, May 26th, Jean Jacques Bienaime purchased 400 shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of $237.80 per share, with a total value of $95,120.00.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

Shares of ASND traded up $1.45 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $248.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 452,630 shares, compared to its average volume of 528,844. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a one year low of $186.05 and a one year high of $282.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 2.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's 50-day moving average is $251.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $237.51.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The biotechnology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.68). Ascendis Pharma A/S had a return on equity of 32.54% and a net margin of 70.99%.The company had revenue of $387.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $376.75 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ascendis Pharma A/S

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 95.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,798,931 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $357,645,000 after buying an additional 880,836 shares in the last quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 41.6% during the 1st quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 1,531,421 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $350,282,000 after acquiring an additional 450,000 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,026,407 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $218,871,000 after acquiring an additional 232,730 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 400,000 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 478,641 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $102,065,000 after acquiring an additional 19,301 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ASND. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $256.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $330.00 to $326.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $325.00 to $341.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ascendis Pharma A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $300.33.

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.

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