Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Decreases Position in Ascendis Pharma A/S $ASND

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 596,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 64,609 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.96% of Ascendis Pharma A/S worth $127,241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASND. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 228 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 111.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 214 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $74,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ascendis Pharma A/S

In related news, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total transaction of $4,641,015.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime purchased 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $237.80 per share, for a total transaction of $95,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 400 shares in the company, valued at $95,120. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 40.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

Shares of ASND opened at $205.81 on Tuesday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a twelve month low of $160.86 and a twelve month high of $250.74. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $232.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $223.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74 and a beta of 0.39. 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 (NASDAQ:ASND) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $285.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.47 million. Equities analysts forecast that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 12.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $329.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, March 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $295.39.

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.