Simplify Asset Management Inc. Buys 248,000 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Simplify Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 70.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 598,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 248,000 shares during the quarter. Ardelyx makes up approximately 0.3% of Simplify Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Simplify Asset Management Inc. owned 0.26% of Ardelyx worth $4,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ARDX. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ardelyx by 1,026.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 3,233 shares during the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ardelyx during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the second quarter valued at about $62,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 1st quarter worth about $86,000. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In related news, CEO Michael Raab sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.61, for a total value of $196,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,220,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,847,610.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Michael Raab sold 35,000 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.61, for a total transaction of $196,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,220,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,847,610.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,289 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.86, for a total transaction of $30,993.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 295,257 shares in the company, valued at $1,730,206.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 166,872 shares of company stock valued at $974,143. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Ardelyx from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $15.00 to $7.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ardelyx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.67.

Ardelyx Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of ARDX stock opened at $5.99 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $5.88 and a 200-day moving average of $6.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.39 and a beta of 0.90. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52-week low of $3.16 and a 52-week high of $10.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 3.99 and a current ratio of 4.21.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $73.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.03 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 31.02% and a negative return on equity of 39.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 228.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.08) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardelyx 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.