Insider Selling: Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Insider Sells $4,641,015.40 in Stock

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the company’s 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:ASND opened at $245.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1 year low of $150.89 and a 1 year high of $250.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $232.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $220.34.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $285.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.47 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 12.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ascendis Pharma A/S

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASND. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the second quarter worth about $552,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 4.0% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,441 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 66.2% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,737 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 83.4% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 201,044 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,700,000 after purchasing an additional 91,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the second quarter worth about $897,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on ASND shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $324.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $291.50.

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.