Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX Shares Sold by Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. decreased its stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 24.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 305,230 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 97,000 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Ardelyx were worth $1,779,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Horizon Corp grew its stake in Ardelyx by 120.4% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 7,906 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 4,319 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Ardelyx by 147.0% in the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 10,253 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 6,102 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the third quarter valued at $57,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the second quarter worth about $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric Duane Foster sold 10,439 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total value of $61,068.15. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 425,970 shares in the company, valued at $2,491,924.50. The trade was a 2.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.84, for a total transaction of $243,329.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,816,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,608,056.32. This represents a 2.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 128,604 shares of company stock worth $751,917 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Williams Trading set a $17.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $10.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Leerink Partners reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.70.

Ardelyx Stock Up 0.7%

ARDX opened at $6.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a current ratio of 4.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of -24.04 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $6.03 and its 200-day moving average is $6.14. Ardelyx, Inc. has a one year low of $3.21 and a one year high of $8.40.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $125.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.04 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 15.12% and a negative return on equity of 40.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post 0.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.