86,650 Shares in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND Bought by Eagle Health Investments LP

Key Points

• Eagle Health Investments LP bought 86,650 Ascendis Pharma shares worth approximately $19.8 million, making up 3.5% of its portfolio and representing about 0.14% of the company.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions, while analysts maintained a broadly positive outlook: 18 of 19 analysts rate the stock Buy or Strong Buy, with a consensus target price of $296.72.
• Ascendis Pharma reported quarterly EPS of $0.32, beating estimates of $0.21, although revenue of $285.45 million fell short of the $362.47 million consensus estimate. The stock opened at $253.42 and remains below its 12-month high of $282.15.

Eagle Health Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 86,650 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $19,819,000. Ascendis Pharma A/S accounts for about 3.5% of Eagle Health Investments LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Eagle Health Investments LP owned about 0.14% of Ascendis Pharma A/S as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 43,701 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $9,319,000 after buying an additional 15,950 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. grew its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 23.2% during the first quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 230,278 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $52,671,000 after acquiring an additional 43,338 shares during the period. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. raised its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 119,095 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $25,396,000 after acquiring an additional 25,148 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 57.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 308,190 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $65,718,000 after acquiring an additional 112,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,384,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised 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 research note on Thursday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $342.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $262.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $296.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ascendis Pharma A/S

In related news, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime bought 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $237.80 per share, for a total transaction of $95,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at $95,120. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total transaction of $4,641,015.40. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 40.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Down 0.2%

Ascendis Pharma A/S stock opened at $253.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.81 billion, a PE ratio of 29.23 and a beta of 0.37. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 12 month low of $160.86 and a 12 month high of $282.15. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $244.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $285.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.47 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.