China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 64.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 45,280 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 17,792 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ardelyx were worth $312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ARDX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ardelyx by 2.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,391,855 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $97,761,000 after buying an additional 365,809 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 68.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,913,863 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $28,572,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584,597 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 142.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,203,090 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883,995 shares during the last quarter. Redmile Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 1st quarter worth about $16,020,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 643,912 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,437,000 after purchasing an additional 55,720 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ardelyx news, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 49,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.92, for a total transaction of $342,982.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 301,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,089,466.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 49,564 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.92, for a total transaction of $342,982.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 301,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,089,466.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.94, for a total transaction of $118,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 356,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,117,485.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 187,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,151,213 over the last three months. 5.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on ARDX shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their target price on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.67.

Ardelyx Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ARDX opened at $5.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.99, a current ratio of 4.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business’s 50 day moving average is $6.08 and its 200 day moving average is $6.33. The stock has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.04 and a beta of 0.90. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52-week low of $3.43 and a 52-week high of $10.13.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $73.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.03 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 39.73% and a negative net margin of 31.02%. The business’s revenue was up 228.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.25 EPS 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.