Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 129,863 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $638,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. owned about 0.05% of Ardelyx at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ardelyx by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $72,819,000 after acquiring an additional 767,111 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 206.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 593,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,010,000 after purchasing an additional 400,100 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,035,135 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $10,318,000 after purchasing an additional 96,357 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 578,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,932,000 after purchasing an additional 142,294 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 326,124 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,653,000 after purchasing an additional 6,070 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ardelyx Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:ARDX traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $3.55. The company had a trading volume of 2,647,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,535,029. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 4.12 and a quick ratio of 3.81. Ardelyx, Inc. has a one year low of $3.21 and a one year high of $8.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $4.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.86. The company has a market capitalization of $849.37 million, a PE ratio of -16.14 and a beta of 0.59.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $74.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.40 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.86% and a negative return on equity of 34.45%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 61.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.11) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ARDX. Raymond James Financial lowered Ardelyx from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $11.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $15.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Ardelyx to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ardelyx presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $10.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ardelyx news, insider Mike Kelliher sold 14,522 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.08, for a total transaction of $59,249.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 282,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,151,204.64. The trade was a 4.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Mott acquired 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.69 per share, for a total transaction of $738,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,696,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,951,453.99. The trade was a 8.01% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 681,377 shares of company stock valued at $2,676,411 and have sold 166,809 shares valued at $708,914. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ardelyx Company 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.