Cwm LLC Acquires 78,063 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

CWM LLC lifted its stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 4,554.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,777 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 78,063 shares during the quarter. CWM LLC's holdings in Ardelyx were worth $392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 73,950 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 154,625 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 3,550 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 463,100 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,348,000 after acquiring an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,486 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 4,933 shares during the period. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other news, insider Mike Kelliher sold 14,522 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.08, for a total value of $59,249.76. Following the transaction, the insider owned 282,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,151,204.64. The trade was a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David M. Mott bought 381,377 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $4.22 per share, for a total transaction of $1,609,410.94. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,396,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,114,795.62. This represents a 18.92% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 881,377 shares of company stock valued at $3,402,411 and have sold 125,143 shares valued at $517,667. 4.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ARDX shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. HC Wainwright started coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $10.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $11.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $10.89.

Ardelyx Price Performance

NASDAQ:ARDX traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $4.28. 3,176,052 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,186,364. The company has a quick ratio of 3.81, a current ratio of 4.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1 year low of $3.21 and a 1 year high of $7.18. The company has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.45 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.67.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.07). Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.86% and a negative return on equity of 34.45%. The firm had revenue of $74.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $79.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.11) EPS. Ardelyx's revenue for the quarter was up 61.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.