Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New $930,000 Investment in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 183,490 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $930,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Ardelyx as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,938,778 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $13,358,000 after buying an additional 40,702 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 274.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 181,387 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 132,928 shares during the last quarter. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 3rd quarter valued at about $506,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Ardelyx by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,141,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $83,657,000 after buying an additional 176,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted 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 valued at $3,770,000 after acquiring an additional 109,285 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $13.00 price target (down previously from $15.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 21st. HC Wainwright reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $5.50 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, February 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Ardelyx to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Ardelyx to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $10.61.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of ARDX traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $4.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,052,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,375,912. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.13 and a beta of 0.81. Ardelyx, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4.03 and a fifty-two week high of $9.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 4.58 and a quick ratio of 4.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $5.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.42.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 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 business had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.16 million. On average, research analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.59, for a total value of $191,246.94. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,615,587 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,415,544.33. The trade was a 2.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 4,941 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total value of $27,768.42. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 158,076 shares of company stock worth $823,804. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company's stock.

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.