Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 767,111 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 6.06% of Ardelyx worth $72,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARDX. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 176,789 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ardelyx by 0.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 17,296 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 90,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 1.6% in the 3rd 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. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARDX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler raised Ardelyx to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Three equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $10.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the business's 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David M. Mott purchased 199,000 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.99 per share, for a total transaction of $993,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,937,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,669,447.35. This represents a 11.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 158,076 shares of company stock worth $823,804. Insiders own 5.90% of the company's stock.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of ARDX traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $4.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 272,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,362,285. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.97 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 4.58, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02. The business had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.16 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 11.73% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. 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.