Victory Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 124,926 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 6,427 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.20% of Ascendis Pharma A/S worth $19,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ASND. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 4th quarter worth $484,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the 4th quarter worth $450,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 407,294 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $56,072,000 after acquiring an additional 60,548 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 4,199 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $578,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,450,420 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $612,689,000 after acquiring an additional 39,309 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on ASND shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $200.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $181.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $201.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $223.07.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASND traded down $0.84 on Friday, hitting $167.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 421,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 412,063. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 12-month low of $111.09 and a 12-month high of $183.00. The company has a market capitalization of $10.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.67 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $170.63 and a 200-day moving average of $155.81.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biotechnology company reported ($1.66) earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $98.56 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.