Marshall Wace LLP Takes $582,000 Position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 114,819 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $582,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 24.9% during the 3rd 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 during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 3.4% during the third 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 6,093 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Ardelyx by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 808,392 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $4,099,000 after purchasing an additional 164,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 54,886 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 16,182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 22,964 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total transaction of $129,057.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,085,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,101,943.10. This represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 4,941 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total transaction of $27,768.42. Following the sale, the insider now owns 303,804 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,707,378.48. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 158,076 shares of company stock worth $777,555. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ardelyx Stock Down 2.7 %

NASDAQ ARDX traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $3.60. 1,925,692 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,370,129. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 4.58 and a quick ratio of 4.31. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52 week low of $3.51 and a 52 week high of $9.20. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $4.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.21. The company has a market cap of $861.32 million, a PE ratio of -22.50 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Ardelyx to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. 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. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Ardelyx from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $11.00 target price 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 issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.