Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Decreases Position in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) by 54.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,941 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 42,532 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.06% of Ascendis Pharma A/S worth $4,948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 394.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 247 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 415.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 407 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 3rd quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 58.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 583 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of ASND opened at $167.99 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a PE ratio of -23.66 and a beta of 0.62. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 52-week low of $111.09 and a 52-week high of $169.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.15.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ASND shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $168.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group began coverage on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.64.

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.