Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Shares Sold by Knott David M Jr

Knott David M Jr trimmed its stake in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 612,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 70,597 shares during the quarter. Ardelyx makes up about 1.1% of Knott David M Jr’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Knott David M Jr’s holdings in Ardelyx were worth $3,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ardelyx by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $72,819,000 after buying an additional 767,111 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,141,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $83,657,000 after acquiring an additional 176,789 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,509,730 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,941,000 after acquiring an additional 21,988 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,035,135 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,318,000 after acquiring an additional 96,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 67.2% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,452,176 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,363,000 after purchasing an additional 583,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ardelyx news, Director David M. Mott acquired 77,729 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.00 per share, with a total value of $388,645.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,015,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,077,470. This trade represents a 4.01 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.31, for a total value of $221,246.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,129,552 shares in the company, valued at $5,997,921.12. This trade represents a 3.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 158,076 shares of company stock valued at $853,804 over the last 90 days. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ardelyx Price Performance

NASDAQ ARDX opened at $4.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of -30.69 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.51. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $4.32 and a 12-month high of $9.33.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02. The company had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.16 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARDX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective (down from $15.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.95.

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.