Jupiter Topco LLC Takes Position in Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX

Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,302,311 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,043,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in Ardelyx in the second quarter worth about $35,000. SCS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $52,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $56,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Ardelyx during the second quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Finally, PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Ardelyx during the first quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ardelyx news, CEO Michael Raab sold 58,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.86, for a total transaction of $226,095.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,619,792 shares in the company, valued at $6,252,397.12. This trade represents a 3.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 10,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.86, for a total value of $41,452.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 367,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,418,380.16. This represents a 2.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 126,059 shares of company stock worth $486,588 in the last 90 days. 5.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of ARDX opened at $3.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $949.41 million, a PE ratio of -17.32 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $4.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a current ratio of 3.34. Ardelyx, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.72 and a twelve month high of $8.40.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.02). Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 36.00% and a negative net margin of 12.35%.The business had revenue of $120.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 34.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on ARDX. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $9.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings cut Ardelyx from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Ardelyx from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Ardelyx from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.90.

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.