SG Americas Securities LLC Buys 111,457 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 203.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 166,343 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 111,457 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned about 0.07% of Ardelyx worth $817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Ardelyx by 1,342.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,912 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 5,502 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group bought a new position in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Ardelyx from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $11.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $10.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Ardelyx to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ardelyx from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $10.89.

Ardelyx Price Performance

ARDX traded up $0.07 during trading on Monday, hitting $3.63. 3,513,291 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,518,234. The company has a market cap of $868.51 million, a PE ratio of -16.50 and a beta of 0.60. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $4.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.82. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1 year low of $3.21 and a 1 year high of $8.06. The company has a current ratio of 4.12, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.07). Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.86% and a negative return on equity of 34.45%. The company had revenue of $74.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $79.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.11) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 61.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ardelyx news, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.59, for a total value of $191,246.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,615,587 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,415,544.33. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David M. Mott acquired 200,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $3.63 per share, with a total value of $726,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,896,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,515,641.73. This represents a 7.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders acquired 881,377 shares of company stock valued at $3,402,411 and sold 166,809 shares valued at $708,914. Corporate 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.