Artisan Partners, a high value-added investment management firm, published its ‘Artisan Mid Cap Fund’ third quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. A return of 3.06% was recorded by its Investor Class: ARTMX, 3.11% by its Advisor Class: APDMX, and 3.12% by its Institutional Class: APHMX, in the third quarter of 2021, all outpacing the Russell Midcap® Growth Index that delivered a -0.76% return, and the Russell Midcap® Index that was down by -0.93% for the same period. You can take a look at the fund’s top 5 holdings to have an idea about their best picks for 2021.
Artisan Mid-Cap Fund, in its Q3 2021 investor letter, mentioned Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ: ASND) and discussed its stance on the firm. Ascendis Pharma A/S is a Hellerup, Denmark-based biopharmaceutical company with an $8.4 billion market capitalization. ASND delivered a -10.77% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -4.91%. The stock closed at $148.81 per share on November 19, 2021.
Here is what Artisan Mid-Cap Fund has to say about Ascendis Pharma A/S in its Q3 2021 investor letter:
“We added to our positions in Ascendis Pharma. We discussed Ascendis Pharma in our July commentary as a bottom contributor amid a delayed FDA approval for its TransCon hGH growth hormone, Skytrofa—a more convenient treatment for pediatric growth hormone disorder (weekly vs. daily). Since this was an administrative delay rather than a concern regarding its efficacy, we used the share weakness to add to our position. Shortly thereafter, the stock rallied around an approval in August, making Skytrofa Ascendis’ first FDA approved product. This is a major milestone, and it confirms our belief in the strength of the company’s proprietary TransCon drug delivery technology—safely allowing biological drugs to be delivered via a slow-release mechanism. Their second product, TransCon PTH for hyperparathyroidism, is scheduled to report Phase 3 trial results in early 2022. Based on Phase 2 data, we are confident in the drug’s profile, and we believe its sales potential is substantial. Meanwhile, the company is establishing a promising early-stage cancer pipeline, with proof-of-concept data expected to emerge soon. Based on our confidence in the company’s long-term potential, we view the current stock price as quite attractive, and further increased our position size after the Skytrofa announcement.”
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
Based on our calculations, Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ: ASND) was not able to clinch a spot in our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. ASND was in 29 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the first half of 2021, compared to 28 funds in the previous quarter. Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ: ASND) delivered a 23.55% return in the past 3 months.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
