Vontobel Holding Ltd. Purchases Shares of 12,000 Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 12,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ARDX. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 3rd quarter worth about $63,000. Laurion Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 3rd quarter worth about $81,000. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter worth about $93,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, insider Elizabeth A. Grammer sold 86,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.73, for a total value of $664,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 312,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,435.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 15,344 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.18, for a total value of $140,857.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 384,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,525,138.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Elizabeth A. Grammer sold 86,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.73, for a total transaction of $664,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 312,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,419,435.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,820 shares of company stock valued at $1,208,524 in the last three months. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ARDX shares. Leerink Partnrs restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $9.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ardelyx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.69.

Ardelyx Price Performance

ARDX stock opened at $6.43 on Thursday. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.16 and a 12 month high of $10.13. The company has a current ratio of 4.88, a quick ratio of 4.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $7.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.65. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of -21.43 and a beta of 0.85.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $34.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.26 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 53.08% and a negative return on equity of 43.57%. Ardelyx’s quarterly revenue was down 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.06 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

About Ardelyx

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.