Two Sigma Investments LP Buys 157,416 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,141,777 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 157,416 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP owned approximately 0.48% of Ardelyx worth $5,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter worth about $338,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,762,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 77,469 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 19,643 shares during the last quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC increased its position in Ardelyx by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC now owns 177,794 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $901,000 after purchasing an additional 50,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Ardelyx by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 154,625 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In related news, Director David M. Mott purchased 100,000 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $3.29 per share, with a total value of $329,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,496,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,214,705.59. This represents a 4.17% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 6,421 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.08, for a total value of $26,197.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 402,583 shares in the company, valued at $1,642,538.64. The trade was a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 208,477 shares of company stock worth $932,254 in the last three months. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ardelyx Trading Down 7.7%

Ardelyx stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $3.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,878,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,453,828. The stock has a market capitalization of $890.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.25 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 4.58. The stock's fifty day moving average is $4.39 and its 200 day moving average is $4.99. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.21 and a 1-year high of $8.06.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.07). Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 11.73% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The company had revenue of $74.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.11) EPS. Ardelyx's quarterly revenue was up 61.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ARDX shares. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Ardelyx to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Ardelyx from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. 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.com, Ardelyx currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.39.

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.