Jupiter Topco LLC Purchases New Stake in Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX

Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,302,311 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,043,000. Jupiter Topco LLC owned approximately 2.13% of Ardelyx as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARDX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter valued at $119,874,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Ardelyx by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,979,483 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $110,650,000 after purchasing an additional 610,162 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,514,692 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $84,583,000 after purchasing an additional 690,599 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,912,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,449,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193,649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ardelyx by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,827,618 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,981,000 after purchasing an additional 70,832 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 10,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.86, for a total transaction of $41,452.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 367,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,418,380.16. This represents a 2.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 58,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.86, for a total value of $226,095.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,619,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,252,397.12. This trade represents a 3.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 126,059 shares of company stock valued at $486,588 over the last quarter. 5.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ARDX. Zacks Research cut Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Ardelyx from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 17th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BTIG Research decreased their price target on Ardelyx from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.90.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ARDX opened at $3.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 3.34 and a quick ratio of 3.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $4.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.69. The stock has a market cap of $949.41 million, a P/E ratio of -17.32 and a beta of 0.70. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.72 and a 1-year high of $8.40.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $120.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.03 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 36.00% and a negative net margin of 12.35%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 34.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.08) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardelyx 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.