BNP Paribas Financial Markets Grows Position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 54.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 280,269 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 98,882 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Ardelyx were worth $1,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 11,315 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 8,391 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Stock Up 14.8%

Shares of ARDX opened at $3.88 on Monday. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52-week low of $3.21 and a 52-week high of $8.06. The company has a market capitalization of $928.31 million, a PE ratio of -24.25 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.09. The company has a quick ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 4.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.07). Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. The company had revenue of $74.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.40 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.11) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 61.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ARDX. Raymond James lowered Ardelyx from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank began coverage on Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $5.50 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler raised Ardelyx to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ardelyx news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 4,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 303,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,707,378.48. This trade represents a 1.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 22,964 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total value of $129,057.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,085,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,101,943.10. The trade was a 2.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 158,076 shares of company stock valued at $777,555 in the last three months. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.