2,194,560 Shares in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Bought by Redmile Group LLC

Redmile Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,194,560 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,020,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ARDX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,565,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $47,188,000 after buying an additional 97,951 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates purchased a new stake in Ardelyx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $98,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in Ardelyx by 59.0% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 91,302 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $566,000 after purchasing an additional 33,877 shares during the period. Clay Northam Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $382,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 380.2% in the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 26,851 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 21,259 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardelyx Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ ARDX traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $5.56. 2,599,064 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,593,342. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.16 and a 12 month high of $10.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $6.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.49. The company has a quick ratio of 4.36, a current ratio of 4.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of -19.86 and a beta of 0.83.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 41.65% and a negative net margin of 41.36%. The business had revenue of $46.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.13) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 303.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In related news, insider Robert Blanks sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total value of $226,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 324,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,933,012.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Robert Blanks sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total transaction of $226,480.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 324,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,933,012.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 39,949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.35, for a total value of $333,574.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 370,189 shares in the company, valued at $3,091,078.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 504,119 shares of company stock valued at $3,917,050 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARDX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut Ardelyx from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $15.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Leerink Partnrs reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $14.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.69.

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.