Natixis Purchases New Holdings in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Natixis bought a new position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 93,764 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $475,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ardelyx by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $72,819,000 after acquiring an additional 767,111 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 344.7% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 906,311 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,595,000 after acquiring an additional 702,487 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Ardelyx by 67.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,452,176 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $7,363,000 after acquiring an additional 583,550 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ardelyx by 175.5% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 469,819 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,382,000 after acquiring an additional 299,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Fund Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 226.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. now owns 313,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,587,000 after purchasing an additional 217,253 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARDX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler raised shares of Ardelyx to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. HC Wainwright reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $5.50 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Friday, March 7th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $15.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Ardelyx to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.61.

Ardelyx Stock Up 2.7 %

Ardelyx stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $5.50. The stock had a trading volume of 3,358,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,372,682. The business's 50 day moving average price is $5.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 4.58 and a quick ratio of 4.31. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52 week low of $4.02 and a 52 week high of $9.33. The company has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.34 and a beta of 0.81.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 11.73% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The business had revenue of $116.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.16 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In related news, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total value of $223,329.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,108,719 shares in the company, valued at $5,942,733.84. This represents a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,171 shares of the business'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 value of $29,061.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 285,968 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,607,140.16. The trade was a 1.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 158,076 shares of company stock worth $823,804. 5.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.