Stonepine Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 555,000 Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX

Stonepine Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 555,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,176,000. Ardelyx accounts for about 2.1% of Stonepine Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DCF Advisers LLC bought a new position in Ardelyx during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the first quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the first quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Finally, Crux Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 17.7% in the second quarter. Crux Wealth Advisors now owns 27,393 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 4,120 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardelyx Stock Up 4.2%

Shares of Ardelyx stock opened at $5.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 4.41 and a quick ratio of 4.11. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.09 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $5.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.08. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1 year low of $3.21 and a 1 year high of $6.78.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $110.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.44 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.20% and a negative return on equity of 36.91%. The company’s revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 46,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total value of $259,753.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,455,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,062,711.02. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Mike Kelliher sold 5,560 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total value of $30,802.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 271,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,502,342.74. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 64,868 shares of company stock valued at $359,369. 4.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARDX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Ardelyx from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Wedbush downgraded shares of Ardelyx from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.73.

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.