Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 14,438 Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 39.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,135 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,438 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.08% of Ascendis Pharma A/S worth $11,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 43,701 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,319,000 after acquiring an additional 15,950 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 230,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $52,671,000 after purchasing an additional 43,338 shares in the last quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 119,095 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,396,000 after purchasing an additional 25,148 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 57.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 308,190 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $65,718,000 after purchasing an additional 112,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 4th quarter worth about $1,384,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ASND. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $342.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $330.00 to $326.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ascendis Pharma A/S presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $296.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime acquired 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $237.80 per share, for a total transaction of $95,120.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,120. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total value of $4,641,015.40. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 40.00% of the company’s stock.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Trading Down 0.9%

ASND opened at $252.05 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.72 billion, a PE ratio of 29.07 and a beta of 0.37. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1-year low of $163.88 and a 1-year high of $282.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $244.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $234.50.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last announced 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 company had revenue of $285.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.47 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.