Rock Springs Capital Management LP Invests $7.42 Million in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Rock Springs Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,463,629 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $7,421,000. Rock Springs Capital Management LP owned about 0.62% of Ardelyx as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ARDX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ardelyx by 1.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,144 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,667,000 after purchasing an additional 6,093 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ardelyx by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $72,819,000 after buying an additional 767,111 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 547,325 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,770,000 after buying an additional 109,285 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,487,742 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $37,818,000 after acquiring an additional 17,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,035,135 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $10,318,000 after acquiring an additional 96,357 shares during the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on ARDX. HC Wainwright reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $5.50 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, February 21st. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Ardelyx to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Ardelyx to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Friday, March 7th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ardelyx currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $10.61.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 4,941 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total value of $27,768.42. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 303,804 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,707,378.48. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.59, for a total transaction of $191,246.94. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,615,587 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,415,544.33. This trade represents a 2.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 158,076 shares of company stock worth $823,804. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company's stock.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARDX traded up $0.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $5.26. 4,562,725 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,378,358. The firm has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of -32.88 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 4.58, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12 month low of $4.02 and a 12 month high of $9.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $5.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.28.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02. The firm had revenue of $116.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.16 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. Research analysts expect 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.