Values First Advisors Inc. Raises Position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Values First Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,282 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,890 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ardelyx were worth $319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 438,827 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,203,000 after buying an additional 118,879 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 347.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 122,811 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $897,000 after purchasing an additional 95,361 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 458,300 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,346,000 after purchasing an additional 28,900 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 100.7% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 536,297 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,915,000 after purchasing an additional 269,046 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ardelyx by 8.9% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 57,729 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 4,735 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARDX opened at $5.86 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 4.21 and a quick ratio of 3.99. The company has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of -20.93 and a beta of 0.90. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.43 and a 12 month high of $10.13.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.04. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 39.73% and a negative net margin of 31.02%. The business had revenue of $73.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 228.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARDX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup raised their price target on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut shares of Ardelyx from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $7.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 20,507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.00, for a total value of $123,042.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 158,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $951,012. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ardelyx news, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 20,507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.00, for a total transaction of $123,042.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 158,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $951,012. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.01, for a total value of $45,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,210,108 shares in the company, valued at $7,272,749.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 217,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,320,413 in the last 90 days. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ardelyx Profile

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.