Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Sells 3,092 Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,796 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 3,092 shares during the period. Ascendis Pharma A/S makes up about 1.5% of Rice Hall James & Associates LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned approximately 0.26% of Ascendis Pharma A/S worth $25,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ASND. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 54.4% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,725,546 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $375,226,000 after purchasing an additional 960,504 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,863,249 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $394,183,000 after purchasing an additional 753,859 shares in the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 10,112,744 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,392,221,000 after purchasing an additional 402,316 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 108.0% during the fourth quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 520,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $71,588,000 after purchasing an additional 270,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,380,382 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $602,910,000 after purchasing an additional 193,688 shares in the last quarter.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASND traded up $1.80 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $177.20. The stock had a trading volume of 353,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 505,404. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a one year low of $111.09 and a one year high of $183.00. The company has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.22 and a beta of 0.38. The business's 50 day moving average is $169.23 and its 200-day moving average is $154.43.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($1.66) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.56) by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $123.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $98.56 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASND has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $224.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $213.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ascendis Pharma A/S presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $223.07.

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.