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

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,410,000 shares, an increase of 5.6% from the October 15th total of 3,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 634,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on ASND. StockNews.com lowered Ascendis Pharma A/S from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $160.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $191.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S from $175.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ascendis Pharma A/S currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.77.

Ascendis Pharma A/S Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASND opened at $126.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.67 billion, a PE ratio of -13.59 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $132.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $132.66. Ascendis Pharma A/S has a 1 year low of $90.13 and a 1 year high of $161.00.

Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, September 3rd. The biotechnology company reported ($2.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.54) by ($0.51). The company had revenue of $38.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.74 million. On average, research analysts expect that Ascendis Pharma A/S will post -7.35 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ascendis Pharma A/S

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the first quarter worth about $288,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S by 9.9% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,025 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 1,461.1% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 250,492 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,849,000 after purchasing an additional 234,446 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Ascendis Pharma A/S by 61.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 876 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nan Fung Group Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ascendis Pharma A/S in the 1st quarter worth $2,056,000.

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.