Marshall Wace LLP Sells 106,830 Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND)

Marshall Wace LLP cut its stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Free Report) by 48.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,245 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 106,830 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.19% of Ascendis Pharma A/S worth $15,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 394.0% in the 4th 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 stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 415.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 407 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 583 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ASND. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $168.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ascendis Pharma A/S presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.67.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of ASND traded up $3.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $164.15. 559,830 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 487,999. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a twelve month low of $111.09 and a twelve month high of $169.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $153.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.68. The stock has a market cap of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.12 and a beta of 0.54.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND - Get Free Report) last announced 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. On average, equities analysts predict that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Company 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.