Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,369,321 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,337,672 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 7.62% of Ardelyx worth $101,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Ardelyx by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 159,061 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 4,436 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,378,738 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,680,000 after buying an additional 221,486 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 1st quarter valued at about $72,000. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $135,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

ARDX stock opened at $6.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 4.31 and a quick ratio of 4.11. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.21 and a 1-year high of $8.40. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $6.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.17. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.60 and a beta of 0.61.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $125.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.04 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 15.12% and a negative return on equity of 40.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, insider Joseph James Reilly sold 4,991 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total value of $29,197.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 151,790 shares in the company, valued at $887,971.50. This trade represents a 3.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Mike Kelliher sold 9,595 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total value of $56,130.75. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 364,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,296.10. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 136,938 shares of company stock valued at $857,587. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ARDX shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.09.

Ardelyx Profile

Ardelyx, Inc (NASDAQ: ARDX) is a clinical?stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing targeted small molecule drugs for cardio?renal and gastrointestinal diseases. The company’s lead marketed product, tenapanor (sold under the brand name XPHOZAH in the United States), is approved for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis. Ardelyx’s proprietary approach targets epithelial transporters in the gastrointestinal tract, offering localized activity with limited systemic exposure.

Beyond tenapanor, Ardelyx’s development pipeline includes treatments designed to address other complications in kidney disease and related metabolic disorders.