Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND Shares Sold by Sector Gamma AS

Key Points

• Sector Gamma AS cut its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 33% in Q4, selling 8,022 shares and leaving it with 16,305 shares valued at about $3.48 million.
• Ascendis Pharma posted Q1 earnings of $0.32 per share, topping consensus by $0.11, though revenue of $285.45 million came in below estimates.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on the stock, with an average Buy rating and a consensus price target of $295.39; several analysts recently reiterated or initiated bullish ratings.

Sector Gamma AS trimmed its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Free Report) by 33.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,305 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 8,022 shares during the quarter. Sector Gamma AS's holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $3,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,110,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,015,919,000 after purchasing an additional 130,000 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,060,616 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $608,481,000 after purchasing an additional 13,685 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 95.9% during the 3rd 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. grew its stake in 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 worth $218,871,000 after purchasing an additional 232,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perceptive Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 2nd quarter worth $166,367,000.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ ASND opened at $215.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.45 billion, a PE ratio of 24.87 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 52-week low of $160.86 and a 52-week high of $250.74. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $232.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $223.61.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $285.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.47 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 14.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Monday, May 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $355.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $330.00 to $326.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $329.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $332.00 price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They set a "buy" rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $295.39.

Insider Transactions at Ascendis Pharma A/S

In related news, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total value of $4,641,015.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime bought 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $237.80 per share, with a total value of $95,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,120. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 40.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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