Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC dramatically reduced its stake in Ardelyx, Inc. by 90.4% in Q1, leaving them with only 27,185 shares valued at approximately $132,000.
• Several institutional investors, such as Janus Henderson Group PLC and Vanguard Group Inc., increased their holdings in Ardelyx during the same period, indicating continued interest from some investors.
• Ardelyx reported a revenue increase of 23% year-over-year, surpassing analysts' expectations with $97.66 million for the quarter, along with a narrower loss per share than anticipated.

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 90.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,185 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 254,579 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Ardelyx were worth $132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,387,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $123,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,858,061 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,997,234 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $73,636,000 after purchasing an additional 634,575 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 1st quarter valued at about $16,735,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,172,819 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $10,669,000 after purchasing an additional 21,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,067,528 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $10,152,000 after purchasing an additional 32,393 shares in the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

ARDX stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $6.68. 3,649,088 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,232,759. The company has a quick ratio of 4.03, a current ratio of 4.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.21 and a 1-year high of $7.18. The company's fifty day moving average price is $5.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.74. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of -29.04 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ardelyx in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a "strong-buy" rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group set a $12.00 price objective on Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $14.00 target price (up previously from $13.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. HC Wainwright initiated coverage on Ardelyx in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $10.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Ardelyx from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ardelyx presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $11.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 45,687 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.93, for a total value of $270,923.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,502,250 shares in the company, valued at $8,908,342.50. This represents a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Mike Kelliher sold 5,417 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.93, for a total value of $32,122.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 276,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,641,074.13. This trade represents a 1.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 165,551 shares of company stock valued at $996,917. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by 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.