Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 634,575 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has increased its stake in Ardelyx, Inc. by 4.4%, acquiring an additional 634,575 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 6.27% valued at $73.6 million.
• Several institutional investors have recently bought shares of Ardelyx, leading to a total institutional ownership of 58.92% of the company's stock.
• Ardelyx's stock received positive ratings updates from multiple analysts, with an average target price of $11.50 and multiple "Buy" or "Outperform" ratings issued.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,997,234 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 634,575 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 6.27% of Ardelyx worth $73,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in Ardelyx by 206.7% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 593,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,010,000 after purchasing an additional 400,100 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 203.1% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 166,343 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 111,457 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 142,294 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,387,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $123,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,858,061 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the first quarter valued at $75,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Ardelyx Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:ARDX traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $6.34. 213,788 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,690,205. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of -27.54 and a beta of 0.68. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $4.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.68. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12-month low of $3.21 and a 12-month high of $7.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 4.30 and a quick ratio of 4.03.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARDX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $12.00 target price (up previously from $11.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. UBS Group set a $12.00 price objective on Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Ardelyx from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, HC Wainwright started coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $10.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $11.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 80,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.12, for a total transaction of $489,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 366,322 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,241,890.64. This trade represents a 17.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric Duane Foster sold 15,308 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.93, for a total transaction of $90,776.44. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 301,498 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,883.14. This trade represents a 4.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 165,551 shares of company stock worth $996,917. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.