Corton Capital Inc. Invests $241,000 in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 47,540 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $241,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Two Seas Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at $9,407,000. Rock Springs Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,421,000. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Ardelyx during the fourth quarter worth about $4,984,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $72,819,000 after acquiring an additional 767,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 344.7% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 906,311 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,595,000 after acquiring an additional 702,487 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardelyx Stock Down 6.3 %

Ardelyx stock opened at $3.70 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.21. The company has a market capitalization of $885.24 million, a P/E ratio of -23.13 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 4.58. Ardelyx, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3.62 and a fifty-two week high of $9.20.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised Ardelyx to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Raymond James downgraded Ardelyx from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.39.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In other news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 4,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 303,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,378.48. The trade was a 1.60 % 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, CEO Michael Raab sold 22,964 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $6,101,943.10. This represents a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 158,076 shares of company stock worth $777,555. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ardelyx Company Profile

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.