Swiss National Bank Acquires 4,800 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 463,100 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.20% of Ardelyx worth $2,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ARDX. Eventide Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 7,413,049 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $51,076,000 after buying an additional 746,067 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Ardelyx by 67.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 583,550 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the third quarter worth about $3,445,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 175.5% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 469,819 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,382,000 after purchasing an additional 299,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $930,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $13.00 target price (down from $15.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $5.50 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.95.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.31, for a total transaction of $221,246.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,997,921.12. This represents a 3.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 4,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total transaction of $27,768.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 303,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,378.48. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 158,076 shares of company stock worth $853,804. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARDX opened at $5.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 4.58 and a quick ratio of 4.31. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $5.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.52. Ardelyx, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4.32 and a fifty-two week high of $9.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.13 and a beta of 0.87.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02. The business had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.16 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 11.73% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. As a group, analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.