Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 26,630,000 shares, an increase of 12.7% from the January 15th total of 23,620,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,770,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, CEO Michael Raab sold 31,980 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.79, for a total transaction of $153,184.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,175,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,630,094.15. This trade represents a 2.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 7,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.79, for a total transaction of $35,283.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 308,745 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,888.55. This trade represents a 2.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 177,938 shares of company stock valued at $924,239 in the last three months. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,141,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $83,657,000 after purchasing an additional 176,789 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 68.5% during the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 3,060,191 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $21,085,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243,606 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 274.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 181,387 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 132,928 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new position in Ardelyx during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,445,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 1.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of ARDX stock opened at $5.79 on Monday. Ardelyx has a 12 month low of $4.32 and a 12 month high of $9.83. The company has a quick ratio of 3.87, a current ratio of 4.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $5.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.63. The company has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a PE ratio of -19.30 and a beta of 0.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ARDX. Citigroup dropped their target price on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and set a $5.50 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.42.

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.