Handelsbanken Fonder AB Reduces Holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Free Report) by 15.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,567 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 2,100 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $1,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 54.4% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,725,546 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $375,226,000 after acquiring an additional 960,504 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,863,249 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $394,183,000 after purchasing an additional 753,859 shares during the period. RA Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 402,316 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 270,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in 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 valued at $602,910,000 after buying an additional 193,688 shares during the period.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Trading Down 0.9%

ASND stock traded down $1.52 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $171.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 178,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 493,825. The company's 50 day moving average is $163.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $148.60. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a fifty-two week low of $111.09 and a fifty-two week high of $183.00. The stock has a market cap of $10.48 billion, a PE ratio of -27.22 and a beta of 0.37.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $123.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $98.56 million. On average, analysts forecast that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASND has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $224.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley raised Ascendis Pharma A/S from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $181.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ascendis Pharma A/S presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $220.67.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Profile

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.