Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 39.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 234,667 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 152,477 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.10% of Ardelyx worth $1,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ardelyx by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $72,819,000 after acquiring an additional 767,111 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 547,325 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,770,000 after purchasing an additional 109,285 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Ardelyx by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,035,135 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $10,318,000 after purchasing an additional 96,357 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Ardelyx by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 326,124 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,653,000 after buying an additional 6,070 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Ardelyx by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 54,886 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 16,182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ARDX. 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. BTIG Research started coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. 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 report on Friday, February 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a "buy" rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $10.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 4,941 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total value of $27,768.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 303,804 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,707,378.48. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total transaction of $223,329.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,108,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,942,733.84. This trade represents a 3.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 158,076 shares of company stock worth $823,804. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ardelyx Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of ARDX traded up $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $5.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,999,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,378,640. Ardelyx, Inc. has a twelve month low of $4.02 and a twelve month high of $9.33. The company has a quick ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 4.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.06 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a fifty day moving average of $5.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.27.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.16 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardelyx 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.