Northern Trust Corp Purchases 50,441 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,150,974 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 50,441 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.91% of Ardelyx worth $10,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARDX. Two Seas Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,407,000. Rock Springs Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,421,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 767,111 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 344.7% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 906,311 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,595,000 after purchasing an additional 702,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,296,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ardelyx Trading Up 14.8%

ARDX opened at $3.88 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $4.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 4.58. The firm has a market cap of $928.31 million, a PE ratio of -24.25 and a beta of 0.76. Ardelyx, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.21 and a twelve month high of $8.06.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $74.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.40 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 61.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.11) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ardelyx news, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.25, for a total value of $177,080.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,594,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,777,704.50. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,171 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 transaction of $29,061.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 285,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,607,140.16. This trade represents a 1.78% 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. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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. Raymond James cut shares of Ardelyx from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.39.

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.