Sheets Smith Investment Management Acquires Shares of 11,393 Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Sheets Smith Investment Management acquired a new stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,393 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARDX. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,243,606 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $72,819,000 after buying an additional 767,111 shares during the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 11.2% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 7,413,049 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $51,076,000 after buying an additional 746,067 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 67.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,452,176 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,363,000 after buying an additional 583,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,445,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In related news, Director David M. Mott acquired 199,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.99 per share, for a total transaction of $993,010.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,937,765 shares in the company, valued at $9,669,447.35. This trade represents a 11.44 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.31, for a total value of $221,246.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,997,921.12. The trade was a 3.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 158,076 shares of company stock worth $853,804 over the last ninety days. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of ARDX opened at $5.13 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of -32.06 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $5.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 4.58 and a quick ratio of 4.31. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1 year low of $4.32 and a 1 year high of $9.33.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.02. The firm had revenue of $116.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.16 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ARDX shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler raised Ardelyx to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.95.

About Ardelyx

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.