Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC Invests $338,000 in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 66,623 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ARDX. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Ardelyx by 24.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 547,325 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,770,000 after purchasing an additional 109,285 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 1.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,144 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,667,000 after acquiring an additional 6,093 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 54,886 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 16,182 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 79,423 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 19,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 101.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,706 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 6,915 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ARDX shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Ardelyx to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.39.

Ardelyx Stock Up 0.3%

ARDX traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $3.97. 2,574,219 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,455,239. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.21 and a 1-year high of $8.06. The stock's 50-day moving average is $4.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.03. The stock has a market cap of $949.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.81 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 4.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.07). Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. The business had revenue of $74.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.11) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 61.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,668 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total value of $223,340.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,635,138 shares in the company, valued at $8,764,339.68. This trade represents a 2.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David M. Mott purchased 77,729 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $5.00 per share, with a total value of $388,645.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,015,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,077,470. The trade was a 4.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 559,106 shares of company stock worth $2,327,056 and sold 208,477 shares worth $932,254. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

About Ardelyx

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.