Northern Trust Corp Buys 21,845 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. $ARDX

Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,172,819 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,845 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.91% of Ardelyx worth $10,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 206.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 593,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,010,000 after purchasing an additional 400,100 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 203.1% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 166,343 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 111,457 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 578,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,932,000 after purchasing an additional 142,294 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,387,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $123,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,858,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Ardelyx during the 1st quarter worth approximately $75,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ardelyx Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ ARDX opened at $6.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.56 and a beta of 0.74. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52-week low of $3.21 and a 52-week high of $7.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 4.03 and a current ratio of 4.30. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $5.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.71.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.05. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.60% and a negative return on equity of 36.57%. The company had revenue of $97.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $82.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.07) EPS. Ardelyx’s quarterly revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In related news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.12, for a total transaction of $489,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 366,322 shares in the company, valued at $2,241,890.64. The trade was a 17.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Mott bought 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $3.63 per share, for a total transaction of $726,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,896,871 shares in the company, valued at $10,515,641.73. This trade represents a 7.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 165,551 shares of company stock worth $996,917 over the last ninety days. 4.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ARDX. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $14.00 target price (up from $13.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. UBS Group set a $12.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. HC Wainwright began coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.70.

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.