Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Position Lifted by China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 50,222 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,942 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ardelyx were worth $255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ARDX. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Ardelyx by 101.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,706 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 6,915 shares in the last quarter. Helen Stephens Group LLC bought a new position in Ardelyx during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $76,000. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Ardelyx by 328.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,814 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 9,821 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $121,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 23,510 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 5,346 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ardelyx news, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total value of $223,329.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,108,719 shares in the company, valued at $5,942,733.84. This represents a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 27,171 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.10, for a total value of $165,743.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 153,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $937,057.60. The trade was a 15.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 207,852 shares of company stock worth $1,103,423. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ARDX. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Ardelyx from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.42.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARDX opened at $5.36 on Monday. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12-month low of $4.32 and a 12-month high of $10.13. The company has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of -17.87 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.63. The company has a current ratio of 4.03, a quick ratio of 3.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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.