Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 610,162 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 18,979,483 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 610,162 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Ardelyx worth $110,650,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ARDX. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Ardelyx by 88.8% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,527,988 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $21,670,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600,080 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Ardelyx by 1,987.6% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 865,258 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,768,000 after acquiring an additional 823,810 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ardelyx by 47.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,312,363 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,064,000 after acquiring an additional 739,300 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,190,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 88.9% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,069,856 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,194,000 after buying an additional 503,420 shares in the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 8,176 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total value of $47,829.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 436,082 shares in the company, valued at $2,551,079.70. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 45,982 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total transaction of $268,994.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,856,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,863,368.10. The trade was a 2.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 128,604 shares of company stock valued at $751,917 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARDX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Monday, April 20th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Leerink Partners reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $17.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.70.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

NASDAQ ARDX opened at $6.61 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $6.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.23. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of -28.74 and a beta of 0.62. Ardelyx, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3.21 and a fifty-two week high of $8.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a current ratio of 3.49.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.02). Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 38.11% and a negative net margin of 13.58%.The business had revenue of $94.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.17) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardelyx Company 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.