Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX Shares Bought by Panagora Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ardelyx, Inc. by 52.8%, acquiring a total of 682,231 shares valued at approximately $3.35 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Nuveen LLC and D. E. Shaw & Co., have significantly adjusted their positions in Ardelyx, reflecting growing interest in the company, with hedge funds now owning 58.92% of its stock.
• Ardelyx recently reported earnings for the quarter, beating analysts' expectations with a revenue of $97.66 million, and has a consensus target price of $11.50 among analysts.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 52.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 682,231 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 235,804 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.29% of Ardelyx worth $3,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Ardelyx by 1,342.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,912 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 5,502 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ardelyx in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Crestline Management LP purchased a new stake in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ardelyx in the first quarter valued at approximately $75,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ardelyx Price Performance

NASDAQ:ARDX traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $6.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,006,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,391,812. The business's 50-day moving average is $5.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.71. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a PE ratio of -28.35 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. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52-week low of $3.21 and a 52-week 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) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.05. The firm 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%.Ardelyx's revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.07) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Ardelyx from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group set a $12.00 price target on Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $14.00 price target (up previously from $13.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ardelyx from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ardelyx in a research note on Wednesday. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $11.70.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, insider Eric Duane Foster sold 15,308 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.93, for a total value of $90,776.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 301,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,883.14. This represents a 4.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 7,037 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 $41,729.41. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 165,551 shares of company stock valued at $996,917 in the last three months. Insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

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.