The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $10.65 Million Stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 49.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,307 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,595 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.12% of Ascendis Pharma A/S worth $10,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 184,623 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $27,566,000 after acquiring an additional 48,120 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 3.4% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 5,133,766 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $766,523,000 after acquiring an additional 170,942 shares in the last quarter. Valence8 US LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the third quarter valued at approximately $685,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 9.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,866,986 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $278,760,000 after acquiring an additional 155,971 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 23.2% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,742 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the last quarter.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

ASND opened at $133.51 on Tuesday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a one year low of $101.43 and a one year high of $161.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.84 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $131.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $132.38.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 3rd. The biotechnology company reported ($2.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.54) by ($0.51). The firm had revenue of $38.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.74 million. On average, analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ASND. Citigroup lifted their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $178.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $264.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $160.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.77.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Profile

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.