Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) saw a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,600,000 shares, a growth of 7.5% from the March 31st total of 3,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 348,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ASND. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on Ascendis Pharma A/S from $146.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $207.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $196.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.25.

Institutional Trading of Ascendis Pharma A/S

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASND. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Private Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S in the first quarter worth $36,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 90.4% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 318 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 31.9% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 798 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Stock Performance

Shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S stock opened at $141.01 on Thursday. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 52-week low of $83.75 and a 52-week high of $161.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.24 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $147.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $127.09.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.15) by $0.49. Ascendis Pharma A/S had a negative net margin of 180.61% and a negative return on equity of 16,574.15%. The firm had revenue of $148.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $97.02 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.