Eversept Partners LP Purchases 285,752 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX

Eversept Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,715,129 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 285,752 shares during the quarter. Eversept Partners LP owned approximately 0.71% of Ardelyx worth $9,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Horizon Corp raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 120.4% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 7,906 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 4,319 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Ardelyx in the third quarter valued at about $57,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Ardelyx in the second quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Ardelyx in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of Ardelyx stock opened at $5.84 on Thursday. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1 year low of $3.49 and a 1 year high of $8.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $6.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.29. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.39 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 3.49 and a quick ratio of 3.28.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced 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 return on equity of 38.11% and a negative net margin of 13.58%.The business had revenue of $94.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.78 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 27.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.07 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ARDX shares. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Monday, February 23rd. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, February 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric Duane Foster sold 7,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total transaction of $50,147.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 417,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,620,684.44. This represents a 1.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Mike Kelliher sold 7,248 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 357,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,241,010.86. This represents a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $154,066 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

About Ardelyx

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.