Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Sells 147,000 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 41.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 147,000 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. owned about 0.09% of Ardelyx worth $1,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ARDX. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 90,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 50,222 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 23,510 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,346 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 46,282 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 5,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 326,124 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,653,000 after purchasing an additional 6,070 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Trading Down 10.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ARDX opened at $5.72 on Friday. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52-week low of $4.32 and a 52-week high of $9.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.07 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 3.87 and a current ratio of 4.03.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 28.82% and a negative return on equity of 46.60%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ardelyx news, Director David M. Mott purchased 213,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $4.67 per share, for a total transaction of $996,111.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,638,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,653,032.55. This represents a 14.96 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 25,000 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.26, for a total transaction of $131,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,150,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,051,025.10. The trade was a 2.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 133,332 shares of company stock worth $710,576 over the last three months. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Ardelyx from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.42.

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.