First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 462,306 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 44.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,498,798 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 462,306 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Ardelyx were worth $8,978,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 88.8% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,527,988 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $21,670,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600,080 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Ardelyx by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,912,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193,649 shares in the last quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP lifted its position in Ardelyx by 1,034.8% in the 4th quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP now owns 1,622,736 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,461,000 after acquiring an additional 1,479,736 shares in the last quarter. AIGH Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ardelyx by 479.3% in the 4th quarter. AIGH Capital Management LLC now owns 1,150,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,704,000 after acquiring an additional 951,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 1,987.6% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 865,258 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,768,000 after purchasing an additional 823,810 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In related news, insider Mike Kelliher sold 7,248 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total value of $45,444.96. Following the sale, the insider owned 357,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,241,010.86. The trade was a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric Duane Foster sold 7,998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total value of $50,147.46. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 417,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,620,684.44. This trade represents a 1.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $154,066. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARDX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings cut Ardelyx from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research cut Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.73.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of ARDX opened at $4.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.52 and a beta of 0.61. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12 month low of $4.07 and a 12 month high of $8.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.15. The company has a current ratio of 3.49, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.02). Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 13.58% and a negative return on equity of 38.11%. The business had revenue of $94.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.17) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardelyx Company Profile

Ardelyx, Inc (NASDAQ: ARDX) is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing targeted small molecule drugs for cardio‐renal and gastrointestinal diseases. The company’s lead marketed product, tenapanor (sold under the brand name XPHOZAH in the United States), is approved for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis. Ardelyx’s proprietary approach targets epithelial transporters in the gastrointestinal tract, offering localized activity with limited systemic exposure.

Beyond tenapanor, Ardelyx’s development pipeline includes treatments designed to address other complications in kidney disease and related metabolic disorders.