Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 22.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,667 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $1,882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 184,623 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $27,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48,120 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 63.8% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,142 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,664,000 after purchasing an additional 4,338 shares during the last quarter. Valence8 US LP acquired a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $685,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 163,888 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $22,562,000 after purchasing an additional 3,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 42.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after buying an additional 5,371 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ascendis Pharma A/S presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.36.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

Shares of ASND opened at $151.53 on Wednesday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1-year low of $111.09 and a 1-year high of $161.00. The stock has a market cap of $9.20 billion, a PE ratio of -21.34 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $135.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.54.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.68) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.32) by $0.64. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Ascendis Pharma A/S

Ascendis Pharma A/S, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing therapies for unmet medical needs. It offers SKYTROFA for treating patients with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). The company is also developing a pipeline of three independent endocrinology rare disease product candidates in clinical development, as well as focuses on advancing oncology therapeutic candidates.