Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $41.54 Million Position in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management reduced its stake in Ascendis Pharma by 4.6%, ending the quarter with 208,931 shares worth about $41.54 million (roughly 0.34% of the company).
• Several institutions made large moves into ASND, notably Perceptive Advisors acquiring a new stake worth about $166.4 million and Principal Financial boosting its holding to $157.8 million.
• Ascendis shares trade near $240.65 with a market cap of about $14.9 billion; analysts have a consensus Moderate Buy and $289.88 average target, while the latest quarter showed an EPS miss (‑$0.64) alongside $290.4 million in revenue.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Free Report) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 208,931 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 10,187 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.34% of Ascendis Pharma A/S worth $41,538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASND. Perceptive Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the second quarter worth $166,367,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2,722.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 793,677 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $157,791,000 after buying an additional 765,561 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 40.4% in the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 459,606 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $79,328,000 after buying an additional 132,201 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 425.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 117,162 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $20,222,000 after acquiring an additional 94,868 shares during the period. Finally, Braun Stacey Associates Inc. bought a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 3rd quarter worth $18,678,000.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

NASDAQ ASND opened at $240.65 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $222.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $209.83. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 52-week low of $124.06 and a 52-week high of $248.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -54.69 and a beta of 0.43.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.58). The firm had revenue of $290.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $285.35 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASND has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Ascendis Pharma A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $289.88.

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.

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.