Millennium Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Millennium Management LLC lowered its holdings in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 26.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,963,480 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 1,048,400 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned about 1.25% of Ardelyx worth $15,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ARDX. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,387,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $123,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,858,061 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $72,819,000 after acquiring an additional 767,111 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,509,730 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $27,941,000 after buying an additional 21,988 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 96,357 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ARDX. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued 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 shares of Ardelyx to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $11.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ardelyx presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $10.39.

Ardelyx Stock Down 0.8%

Ardelyx stock opened at $3.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $947.45 million, a P/E ratio of -24.75 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 4.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Ardelyx, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.21 and a twelve month high of $8.06. The company's 50-day moving average price is $4.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.05.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.07). Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. The business had revenue of $74.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.11) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 61.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In related news, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,668 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total value of $223,340.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,635,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,764,339.68. This trade represents a 2.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David M. Mott acquired 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $3.29 per share, for a total transaction of $329,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,496,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,214,705.59. The trade was a 4.17% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 559,106 shares of company stock valued at $2,327,056 and have sold 202,056 shares valued at $906,056. Insiders own 4.80% 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.

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