Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Grows Holdings in Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 86.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,211,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 561,000 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.51% of Ardelyx worth $5,946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ARDX. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its position in Ardelyx by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 73,950 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Ardelyx by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 154,625 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $788,000 after buying an additional 3,550 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Ardelyx during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Ardelyx by 1,342.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,912 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 5,502 shares during the period. Finally, Palisades Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Ardelyx by 1.1% during the first quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC now owns 523,345 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,569,000 after buying an additional 5,564 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of Ardelyx stock traded down $0.03 on Friday, hitting $6.65. 552,660 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,621,561. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a PE ratio of -28.89 and a beta of 0.74. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1 year low of $3.21 and a 1 year high of $7.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 4.03 and a current ratio of 4.30.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.05. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.60% and a negative return on equity of 36.57%. The firm had revenue of $97.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $82.69 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.07) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 7,037 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.93, for a total transaction of $41,729.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 409,052 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,425,678.36. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 45,687 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.93, for a total transaction of $270,923.91. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,502,250 shares in the company, valued at $8,908,342.50. The trade was a 2.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 165,551 shares of company stock valued at $996,917. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ARDX. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ardelyx from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group set a $12.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $14.00 price target (up previously from $13.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $11.70.

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.