Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX Shares Purchased by Trexquant Investment LP

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP has increased its stake in Ardelyx, Inc. by 92.8%, owning a total of 1,747,733 shares valued at approximately $8.58 million.
• A number of other institutional investors, including Janus Henderson Group PLC and Vanguard Group Inc., have also boosted their holdings in Ardelyx during the same period, contributing to a total of 58.92% institutional ownership of the stock.
• Analysts have set varying price targets for Ardelyx, with a consensus average price target of $11.50 and ratings from “Strong Buy” to “Hold” depending on the firm.

Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 92.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,747,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 841,422 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.73% of Ardelyx worth $8,581,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ARDX. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 124,945 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $633,000 after acquiring an additional 10,514 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Ardelyx in the 4th quarter worth about $930,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Ardelyx in the 4th quarter worth about $582,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 135,156 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 10,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 1,376.4% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 50,317 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 46,909 shares in the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ARDX. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday. They issued a "strong-buy" rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Ardelyx from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ardelyx from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group set a $12.00 price target on Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright started coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $10.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $11.70.

Ardelyx Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Ardelyx stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $6.52. The stock had a trading volume of 2,355,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,682,342. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $4.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.69. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a PE ratio of -28.32 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 4.30 and a quick ratio of 4.03. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.21 and a 12 month 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) 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 analyst estimates of $82.69 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.60% and a negative return on equity of 36.57%. The business's revenue was up 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.07) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ardelyx news, insider Eric Duane Foster sold 15,308 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 301,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,787,883.14. The trade was a 4.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 80,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.12, for a total value of $489,600.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 366,322 shares in the company, valued at $2,241,890.64. This trade represents a 17.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 165,551 shares of company stock valued at $996,917 in the last three months. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.