Knott David M Jr Trims Stock Position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Knott David M Jr reduced its position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 612,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 70,597 shares during the quarter. Ardelyx makes up about 1.1% of Knott David M Jr's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Knott David M Jr owned about 0.26% of Ardelyx worth $3,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,141,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $83,657,000 after acquiring an additional 176,789 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 274.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 181,387 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,250,000 after buying an additional 132,928 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 1.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,144 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,667,000 after buying an additional 6,093 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 24.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 547,325 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,770,000 after buying an additional 109,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ardelyx by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,487,742 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $37,818,000 after acquiring an additional 17,296 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on ARDX. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $5.50 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $13.00 target price (down from $15.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $10.95.

Ardelyx Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of Ardelyx stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $4.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,788,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,364,356. The company has a quick ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 4.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52-week low of $4.32 and a 52-week high of $9.33. The firm's 50-day moving average is $5.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.47. The company has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.44 and a beta of 0.87.

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. The business had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.16 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 11.73% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,171 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,607,140.16. This represents a 1.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.31, for a total transaction of $221,246.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,129,552 shares in the company, valued at $5,997,921.12. The trade was a 3.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 158,076 shares of company stock worth $853,804 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.