Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,600,000 shares, an increase of 7.5% from the March 31st total of 3,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 348,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASND has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $196.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $173.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of 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. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $146.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $116.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ascendis Pharma A/S presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $173.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ascendis Pharma A/S

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASND. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 4,030,634 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $507,658,000 after buying an additional 228,457 shares during the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,755,555 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $473,012,000 after purchasing an additional 85,555 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,181,268 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $274,731,000 after purchasing an additional 12,825 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,519,219 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $191,346,000 after purchasing an additional 254,749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 9.8% during the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 842,801 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $78,920,000 after purchasing an additional 75,374 shares during the period.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S stock traded down $1.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $138.44. 244,260 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 364,231. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 12 month low of $76.02 and a 12 month high of $161.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.77. The company has a market capitalization of $8.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.97 and a beta of 0.50.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.66) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($2.15) by $0.49. The business had revenue of $148.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.02 million. Ascendis Pharma A/S had a negative return on equity of 16,574.15% and a negative net margin of 180.61%. Analysts predict that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.15 EPS for the current year.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Company 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.