Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 911,664 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its stake in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 84.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 162,824 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 911,664 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.07% of Ardelyx worth $826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 463,100 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,348,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,486 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 4,933 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ardelyx by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 50,222 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Ardelyx by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 326,124 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,653,000 after acquiring an additional 6,070 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 6,093 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David M. Mott bought 381,377 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.22 per share, with a total value of $1,609,410.94. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,396,871 shares in the company, valued at $10,114,795.62. This represents a 18.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,171 shares of Ardelyx 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 $29,061.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 285,968 shares in the company, valued at $1,607,140.16. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 158,076 shares of company stock valued at $777,555. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ardelyx Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of Ardelyx stock traded down $0.14 on Tuesday, hitting $3.39. The company had a trading volume of 5,114,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,394,012. The firm has a market capitalization of $811.07 million, a P/E ratio of -21.19 and a beta of 0.76. Ardelyx, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.36 and a twelve month high of $8.14. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $4.82 and a 200-day moving average of $5.16.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $74.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.11) EPS. Research analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ARDX. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target 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. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $11.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $10.39.

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.