Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Position in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $595,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.0% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,441 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Certuity LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 1,170 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,518 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

ASND stock opened at $265.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.59 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $240.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 12-month low of $160.86 and a 12-month high of $282.15.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $285.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.47 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $342.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $262.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Monday, March 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Friday, May 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ascendis Pharma A/S presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.67.

Insider Transactions at Ascendis Pharma A/S

In other Ascendis Pharma A/S news, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime acquired 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $237.80 per share, for a total transaction of $95,120.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 400 shares in the company, valued at $95,120. This represents a ? increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total value of $4,641,015.40. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 40.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Ascendis Pharma A/S

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.