Millennium Management LLC Grows Position in Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX

Key Points

• Millennium Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Ardelyx, Inc. by 118.2% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 6.47 million shares valued at $31.7 million.
• Ardelyx reported a quarterly revenue of $97.66 million, surpassing analyst expectations and marking a 23% increase year-over-year.
• Analysts are optimistic about Ardelyx, with an average target price of $11.70, reflecting a consensus rating of "Buy" from eight investment analysts.

Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 118.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,465,262 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,501,782 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 2.70% of Ardelyx worth $31,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 206.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 593,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,010,000 after acquiring an additional 400,100 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 203.1% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 32.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 1st quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 1st quarter valued at about $638,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of ARDX stock opened at $6.64 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.87 and a beta of 0.74. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $5.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.73. Ardelyx, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3.21 and a fifty-two week high of $7.18.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $97.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.07) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on ARDX shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $14.00 price target (up previously from $13.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. UBS Group set a $12.00 price objective on Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. HC Wainwright started coverage on Ardelyx in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $10.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Ardelyx in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Ardelyx from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $11.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 7,037 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 409,052 shares in the company, valued at $2,425,678.36. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 80,000 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.12, for a total value of $489,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 366,322 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,241,890.64. This represents a 17.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 165,551 shares of company stock worth $996,917 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

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.

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