Guggenheim Capital LLC Acquires 5,218 Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND)

Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Free Report) by 256.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,249 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 5,218 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ASND. Mariner LLC lifted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,160 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 56,850 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $7,827,000 after purchasing an additional 9,065 shares during the period. FIL Ltd lifted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 729,275 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $100,399,000 after purchasing an additional 89,016 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 1,577.6% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 17,682 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 16,628 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP lifted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 235.9% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 27,067 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,726,000 after purchasing an additional 19,010 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ASND shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group began coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.67.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASND traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $164.88. The company had a trading volume of 352,496 shares, compared to its average volume of 488,952. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a twelve month low of $111.09 and a twelve month high of $169.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.05 billion, a PE ratio of -23.22 and a beta of 0.54. The stock's 50 day moving average is $153.97 and its 200-day moving average is $139.28.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.68) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.32) by $0.64. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 EPS for the current year.

About Ascendis Pharma A/S

Ascendis Pharma A/S, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing therapies for unmet medical needs. It offers SKYTROFA for treating patients with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). The company is also developing a pipeline of three independent endocrinology rare disease product candidates in clinical development, as well as focuses on advancing oncology therapeutic candidates.