XTX Topco Ltd Sells 66,788 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd reduced its stake in Ardelyx, Inc. by 47.5%, selling 66,788 shares, and now owns 73,679 shares valued at $362,000.
• Insider transactions included CFO Justin A. Renz selling 7,218 shares and insider Laura A. Williams selling 6,421 shares, both at an average price of $4.08.
• Analysts have set multiple price objectives for Ardelyx, with UBS Group targeting $12.00 and Wedbush increasing its target to $14.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

XTX Topco Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 47.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,679 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 66,788 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in Ardelyx were worth $362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Ardelyx by 1,342.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,912 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 5,502 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Ardelyx during the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group bought a new position in Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Ardelyx in the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ARDX. Citigroup dropped their target price on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Ardelyx from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $14.00 target price (up previously from $13.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. UBS Group set a $12.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ardelyx from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $11.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ardelyx news, insider Mike Kelliher sold 14,522 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.08, for a total value of $59,249.76. Following the transaction, the insider owned 282,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,151,204.64. The trade was a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Mott purchased 200,000 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $3.63 per share, with a total value of $726,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,896,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,515,641.73. This trade represents a 7.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 83,477 shares of company stock valued at $340,586. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ardelyx Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:ARDX traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $5.85. The stock had a trading volume of 2,114,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,788,568. The business's 50 day moving average is $4.26 and its 200-day moving average is $4.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 4.03 and a current ratio of 4.30. The company has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.41 and a beta of 0.68. Ardelyx, Inc. has a one year low of $3.21 and a one year high of $7.18.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $97.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $82.69 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.60% and a negative return on equity of 36.57%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.07) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.