Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Shares Acquired by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 767,111 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 6.06% of Ardelyx worth $72,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARDX. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ardelyx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Ardelyx by 101.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,706 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 6,915 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the fourth quarter worth $98,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardelyx Trading Down 5.6 %

NASDAQ ARDX opened at $4.25 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $5.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.41. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12 month low of $4.02 and a 12 month high of $9.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 4.58 and a quick ratio of 4.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.56 and a beta of 0.81.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. The company had revenue of $116.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.16 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ardelyx news, Director David M. Mott purchased 77,729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $5.00 per share, for a total transaction of $388,645.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,015,494 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.59, for a total transaction of $191,246.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,615,587 shares in the company, valued at $7,415,544.33. The trade was a 2.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 158,076 shares of company stock worth $823,804 in the last quarter. 5.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $13.00 target price (down previously from $15.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ardelyx presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.61.

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.