Values First Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 15,020 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Ardelyx by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 91,302 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 33,877 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates acquired a new position in Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at about $98,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. acquired a new position in Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Ardelyx by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,565,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $47,188,000 after buying an additional 97,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Ardelyx by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,150,743 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,695,000 after buying an additional 20,440 shares during the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ardelyx Price Performance

NASDAQ:ARDX traded down $0.11 on Thursday, hitting $7.30. The company had a trading volume of 6,718,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,321,907. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.33 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.88, a quick ratio of 4.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $8.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.27. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52 week low of $3.16 and a 52 week high of $10.13.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $34.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.26 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 53.08% and a negative return on equity of 43.57%. Ardelyx’s revenue for the quarter was down 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.06 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, January 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Elizabeth A. Grammer sold 86,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.73, for a total transaction of $664,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 312,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,435.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 15,344 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.18, for a total transaction of $140,857.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 384,002 shares in the company, valued at $3,525,138.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Elizabeth A. Grammer sold 86,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.73, for a total transaction of $664,780.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 312,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,435.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 169,802 shares of company stock valued at $1,343,678. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

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.