Propel Bio Management LLC Sells 120,000 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Propel Bio Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 950,947 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 120,000 shares during the period. Ardelyx makes up 4.8% of Propel Bio Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Propel Bio Management LLC owned about 0.40% of Ardelyx worth $4,821,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 66,728 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 15,981 shares during the period. Two Seas Capital LP acquired a new position in Ardelyx during the fourth quarter worth $9,407,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in Ardelyx during the fourth quarter worth $3,296,000. Syon Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ardelyx during the fourth quarter valued at about $101,000. Finally, Harvest Investment Services LLC bought a new stake in Ardelyx during the fourth quarter valued at about $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total transaction of $223,329.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,108,719 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,942,733.84. This trade represents a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David M. Mott purchased 77,729 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $5.00 per share, for a total transaction of $388,645.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,015,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,077,470. This trade represents a 4.01 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 158,076 shares of company stock valued at $823,804 over the last 90 days. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank began 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 for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Ardelyx to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ardelyx presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $10.61.

Ardelyx Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:ARDX traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $5.57. The company had a trading volume of 3,230,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,366,473. Ardelyx, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4.02 and a fifty-two week high of $9.33. The business's fifty day moving average is $5.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.27. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.84 and a beta of 0.81.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. The firm had revenue of $116.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.16 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current 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.