Short Interest in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Rises By 13.9%

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,350,000 shares, an increase of 13.9% from the March 15th total of 2,940,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 375,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASND has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, December 25th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $196.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $207.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $173.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASND. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 3,024.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,754,458 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $205,903,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698,302 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,828,267 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $345,417,000 after purchasing an additional 796,087 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 4th quarter worth $78,719,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,665,579 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $547,552,000 after acquiring an additional 594,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,519,219 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $191,346,000 after acquiring an additional 254,749 shares during the last quarter.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASND traded down $5.00 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $146.04. 318,762 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 292,286. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1 year low of $66.03 and a 1 year high of $161.00. The company has a market cap of $8.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.79 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.93.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($2.15) by $0.49. Ascendis Pharma A/S had a negative return on equity of 16,574.15% and a negative net margin of 180.61%. The firm had revenue of $148.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.02 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.