LPL Financial LLC Sells 58,562 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

LPL Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 29.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 138,804 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 58,562 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.06% of Ardelyx worth $704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. 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 bought a new stake in Ardelyx during the 4th quarter valued at $254,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position 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 valued at $354,000 after buying an additional 11,191 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 99,723 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 38,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at about $112,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ardelyx Stock Up 4.8 %

Shares of ARDX traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $5.26. The company had a trading volume of 4,562,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,378,358. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.88 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $5.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.29. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52 week low of $4.02 and a 52 week high of $9.33.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. The business had revenue of $116.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.16 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.59, for a total transaction of $191,246.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,615,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,415,544.33. This trade represents a 2.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David M. Mott bought 77,729 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $5.00 per share, for a total transaction of $388,645.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,015,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,077,470. This represents a 4.01 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 158,076 shares of company stock valued at $823,804 in the last quarter. 5.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ARDX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Ardelyx to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a "buy" rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $5.50 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $10.61.

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.