Trexquant Investment LP Acquires 702,487 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Trexquant Investment LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 344.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 906,311 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 702,487 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.38% of Ardelyx worth $4,595,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,509,730 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,941,000 after buying an additional 21,988 shares during the last quarter. Diametric Capital LP purchased a new position in Ardelyx in the 4th quarter worth approximately $107,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,486 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 4,933 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 33,323 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 16,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sheets Smith Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the fourth quarter worth $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ARDX shares. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $13.00 price target (down previously from $15.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, March 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, February 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.61.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of Ardelyx stock opened at $4.55 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.44 and a beta of 0.87. 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 $4.32 and a 12 month high of $9.33.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02. The company had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.16 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 11.73% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David M. Mott purchased 199,000 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $4.99 per share, for a total transaction of $993,010.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,937,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,669,447.35. The trade was a 11.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 4,941 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total value of $27,768.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 303,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,378.48. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 158,076 shares of company stock worth $853,804. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Profile

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.