Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 5,724 Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lowered its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 178,899 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 5,724 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S were worth $24,629,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ASND. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 163,888 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $22,562,000 after buying an additional 3,274 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 42.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 5,371 shares during the last quarter. Maven Securities LTD bought a new position in Ascendis Pharma A/S during the third quarter worth $7,466,000. Exome Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 119.2% in the third quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 43,849 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,547,000 after purchasing an additional 23,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 187,180 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,769,000 after purchasing an additional 28,967 shares during the period.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Down 2.1 %

ASND opened at $154.68 on Friday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a twelve month low of $111.09 and a twelve month high of $169.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.79 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.01.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on ASND shares. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $168.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.64.

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.