ADAR1 Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

ADAR1 Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 384.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,035 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 24,635 shares during the period. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ardelyx were worth $157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Ardelyx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Sheets Smith Investment Management acquired a new position in Ardelyx during the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Ardelyx by 101.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,706 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 6,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,486 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 4,933 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In related news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 4,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total value of $27,768.42. Following the sale, the insider now owns 303,804 shares in the company, valued at $1,707,378.48. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,668 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total value of $223,340.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,635,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,764,339.68. This represents a 2.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 116,410 shares of company stock valued at $632,557. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARDX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Ardelyx to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, March 7th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $5.50 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.61.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARDX opened at $4.45 on Tuesday. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52 week low of $4.15 and a 52 week high of $9.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $5.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.46. The company has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.81 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 4.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. The business had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.16 million. Research analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

About Ardelyx

Ardelyx, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines to treat gastrointestinal and cardiorenal therapeutic areas in the United States and internationally. The company’s lead product candidate is tenapanor for the treatment of patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation.