Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Shares Down 5.6% – Should You Sell?

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND)’s share price traded down 5.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $207.62 and last traded at $206.64. 11,627 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 98% from the average session volume of 681,383 shares. The stock had previously closed at $218.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ASND. 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 report on Thursday, April 16th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Monday, March 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. 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 research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $246.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ascendis Pharma A/S has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.39.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $12.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $233.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.65.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $285.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.47 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post 12.85 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jean Jacques Bienaime bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $237.80 per share, with a total value of $95,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,120. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Flemming Steen Jensen sold 19,460 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.49, for a total transaction of $4,641,015.40. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 40.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ascendis Pharma A/S

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 114.8% during the 1st quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 12,179 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,786,000 after purchasing an additional 6,509 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 94.9% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 304 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Perceptive Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 41.6% in the 1st quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 1,531,421 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $350,282,000 after buying an additional 450,000 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 34.0% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Health Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 1st quarter valued at about $19,819,000.

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.