Mackenzie Financial Corp Acquires 101,841 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 266.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 140,133 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 101,841 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned approximately 0.06% of Ardelyx worth $710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,387,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $123,587,000 after buying an additional 2,858,061 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $72,819,000 after buying an additional 767,111 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ardelyx by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,509,730 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $27,941,000 after purchasing an additional 21,988 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Ardelyx by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,150,974 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $10,905,000 after purchasing an additional 50,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Ardelyx by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,035,135 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $10,318,000 after purchasing an additional 96,357 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Ardelyx Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:ARDX traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $3.64. 3,129,621 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,476,826. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12-month low of $3.21 and a 12-month high of $8.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $870.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.75 and a beta of 0.76. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $4.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.96.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $74.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.40 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 11.73% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The business's revenue was up 61.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.11) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In other news, Director David M. Mott acquired 381,377 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.22 per share, with a total value of $1,609,410.94. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,396,871 shares in the company, valued at $10,114,795.62. The trade was a 18.92% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.59, for a total value of $191,246.94. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,615,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,415,544.33. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 208,477 shares of company stock valued at $932,254. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ARDX. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Ardelyx to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.39.

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.