ProShare Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 21.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 45,325 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 12,404 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ardelyx were worth $336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ARDX. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ardelyx by 1,026.3% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 3,233 shares in the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Ardelyx during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Ardelyx during the second quarter valued at $62,000. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in Ardelyx during the first quarter valued at $86,000. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. lifted its position in Ardelyx by 15.4% during the second quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 18,402 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares in the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.97, for a total value of $44,775.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,260,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,524,964.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ardelyx news, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 20,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 356,479 shares in the company, valued at $2,117,485.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.97, for a total value of $44,775.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,260,463 shares in the company, valued at $7,524,964.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 217,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,320,113. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ardelyx Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of ARDX stock opened at $6.93 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 4.21, a quick ratio of 3.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $6.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.75 and a beta of 0.90.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.04. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 39.73% and a negative net margin of 31.02%. The firm had revenue of $73.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 228.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler downgraded Ardelyx from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $15.00 to $7.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.67.

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.