Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 767,111 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 767,111 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 6.06% of Ardelyx worth $72,819,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fox Run Management L.L.C. grew its position in Ardelyx by 214.5% during the 4th quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 41,531 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 28,324 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Ardelyx during the 4th quarter worth about $254,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 69,867 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 11,191 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Ardelyx by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 99,723 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 38,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the fourth quarter worth about $112,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Ardelyx to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Raymond James reaffirmed 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. HC Wainwright reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $5.50 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a "buy" rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $10.61.

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Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARDX traded up $0.01 on Tuesday, hitting $4.58. The company had a trading volume of 2,983,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,376,629. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.37. The company has a current ratio of 4.58, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.63 and a beta of 0.81. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1-year low of $4.02 and a 1-year high of $9.33.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) 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 net margin of 11.73% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The firm had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.16 million. Analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In related news, Director David M. Mott acquired 199,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $4.99 per share, with a total value of $993,010.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,937,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,669,447.35. The trade was a 11.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total value of $223,329.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,108,719 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,942,733.84. The trade was a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 158,076 shares of company stock worth $823,804 in the last ninety days. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Ardelyx

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.