Squarepoint Ops LLC Takes $708,000 Position in Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX

Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 180,711 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $708,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned about 0.07% of Ardelyx at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARDX. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 34.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 11,250,652 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $44,103,000 after buying an additional 2,866,843 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Ardelyx by 118.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,465,262 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,744,000 after acquiring an additional 3,501,782 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Ardelyx by 88.8% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,527,988 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $21,670,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600,080 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Ardelyx by 10.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,378,738 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,680,000 after acquiring an additional 221,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ardelyx by 47.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,312,363 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,064,000 after purchasing an additional 739,300 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardelyx Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ ARDX opened at $5.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a current ratio of 4.41. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.22 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.28. Ardelyx, Inc. has a one year low of $3.21 and a one year high of $6.78.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $110.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $100.44 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.20% and a negative return on equity of 36.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Mike Kelliher sold 5,560 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total value of $30,802.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 271,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,502,342.74. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Elizabeth A. Grammer sold 5,995 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total value of $33,212.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 299,895 shares in the company, valued at $1,661,418.30. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 64,868 shares of company stock valued at $359,369. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ARDX. Citigroup increased their price target on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Wedbush cut shares of Ardelyx from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ardelyx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.73.

Ardelyx Company Profile

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.