Janus Henderson Group PLC Acquires 2,858,061 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,387,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,858,061 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 10.30% of Ardelyx worth $123,587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Ardelyx by 24.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 547,325 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,770,000 after acquiring an additional 109,285 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,144 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,667,000 after acquiring an additional 6,093 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ardelyx by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 808,392 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,099,000 after purchasing an additional 164,480 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Ardelyx by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 54,886 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 16,182 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Ardelyx by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 79,423 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 19,630 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In related news, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,171 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total value of $29,061.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 285,968 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,607,140.16. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 22,964 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total transaction of $129,057.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,085,755 shares in the company, valued at $6,101,943.10. This represents a 2.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 158,076 shares of company stock valued at $777,555 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ARDX. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Ardelyx to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Raymond James downgraded Ardelyx from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $11.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. BTIG Research began coverage on Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $10.39.

Ardelyx Trading Up 14.8%

ARDX stock traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $3.88. 10,685,845 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,434,693. Ardelyx, Inc. has a one year low of $3.21 and a one year high of $8.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 4.58. The company has a market cap of $928.31 million, a PE ratio of -24.25 and a beta of 0.76. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $4.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.11.

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