Eversept Partners LP Acquires 514,317 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX

Eversept Partners LP boosted its holdings in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 30.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,229,446 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 514,317 shares during the quarter. Eversept Partners LP’s holdings in Ardelyx were worth $13,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Horizon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 120.4% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 7,906 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 4,319 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in Ardelyx during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Ardelyx during the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. Krilogy Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 1st quarter worth $70,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,807 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,491 shares during the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ardelyx from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Eric Duane Foster sold 7,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total transaction of $50,147.46. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 417,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,620,684.44. The trade was a 1.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mike Kelliher sold 7,248 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total value of $45,444.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 357,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,241,010.86. This represents a 1.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $154,066 in the last ninety days. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ardelyx Price Performance

ARDX stock opened at $5.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.00 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $5.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.20. The company has a current ratio of 3.49, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12-month low of $4.07 and a 12-month high of $8.40.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $94.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.78 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 38.11% and a negative net margin of 13.58%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.17) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.08 earnings per share for the current 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.