Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 141,315 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Ardelyx, Inc. by 26.4%, now holding 393,428 shares valued at approximately $1.93 million.
• Recent quarterly earnings showed Ardelyx reported a better-than-expected loss of ($0.08) per share, with a revenue of $97.66 million, indicating a 23% increase compared to the previous year.
• Analysts are optimistic with a consensus price target for Ardelyx at $11.50, suggesting potential upside from the current stock price.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 26.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 393,428 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 141,315 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Ardelyx worth $1,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,858,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ardelyx in the 1st quarter valued at about $75,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ARDX. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $14.00 price target (up from $13.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. HC Wainwright began coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $10.00 price target for the company. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday. They issued a "strong-buy" rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group set a $12.00 price objective on Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $11.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Eric Duane Foster sold 15,308 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.93, for a total value of $90,776.44. Following the transaction, the insider owned 301,498 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,883.14. This represents a 4.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 7,037 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 409,052 shares in the company, valued at $2,425,678.36. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 165,551 shares of company stock worth $996,917 over the last ninety days. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ardelyx Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of ARDX traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $6.60. The stock had a trading volume of 903,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,662,770. Ardelyx, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3.21 and a fifty-two week high of $7.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.71. The firm has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.63 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 4.30, a quick ratio of 4.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $97.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company earned ($0.07) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

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.