Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Makes New Investment in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH has acquired 424,718 shares of Ardelyx, Inc., valued at approximately $2,085,000, representing a 0.18% stake in the company.
• Analyst ratings for Ardelyx have recently varied, with Citigroup lowering its price target to $10.00 while maintaining a "buy" rating, contrasting with Wall Street Zen’s downgrade to a "sell" rating.
• Ardelyx reported a revenue of $74.11 million for the last quarter, which was below analyst expectations of $79.40 million, alongside a missed earnings per share estimate of ($0.17).

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 424,718 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $2,085,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.18% of Ardelyx at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARDX. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group acquired a new stake in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ardelyx in the first quarter worth about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, insider Mike Kelliher sold 14,522 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.08, for a total transaction of $59,249.76. Following the transaction, the insider owned 282,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,151,204.64. The trade was a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 7,218 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.08, for a total value of $29,449.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 416,089 shares in the company, valued at $1,697,643.12. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 500,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,793,000 and have sold 83,477 shares valued at $340,586. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARDX has been the subject of a number of research reports. HC Wainwright initiated coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $10.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial downgraded Ardelyx from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $11.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Ardelyx from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $10.88.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

NASDAQ ARDX traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $4.33. 4,225,602 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,779,376. The business's 50 day moving average is $4.05 and its 200-day moving average is $4.64. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1 year low of $3.21 and a 1 year high of $7.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.68 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a current ratio of 4.12.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $74.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $79.40 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 34.45% and a negative net margin of 14.86%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 61.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.11) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardelyx Company 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.