Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Acquires 118,879 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 37.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 438,827 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 118,879 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. owned 0.19% of Ardelyx worth $3,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 1,183.6% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 549,695 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after buying an additional 506,872 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 4,012,753 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $24,879,000 after buying an additional 1,512,753 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 185.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,666,267 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,798,000 after buying an additional 1,082,554 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 0.9% during 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, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Ardelyx during the 3rd quarter worth about $9,384,000. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ARDX opened at $7.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.36, a current ratio of 4.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.46 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $7.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.62. Ardelyx, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.16 and a twelve month high of $10.13.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $46.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.40 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 41.65% and a negative net margin of 41.36%. The company’s revenue was up 303.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.13) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.40, for a total transaction of $192,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,310,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,389,971.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Michael Raab sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.40, for a total transaction of $192,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,310,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,389,971.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 39,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.35, for a total value of $333,574.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 370,189 shares in the company, valued at $3,091,078.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 535,637 shares of company stock worth $4,128,322. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ARDX. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, May 24th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ardelyx from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, SVB Leerink began coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ardelyx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.81.

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.