Wells Fargo & Company MN Has $825,000 Position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Wells Fargo & Company MN decreased its stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Free Report) by 49.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,656 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 160,986 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned approximately 0.07% of Ardelyx worth $825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 1.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,144 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,667,000 after acquiring an additional 6,093 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 767,111 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 109,285 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 5.0% in the 4th 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. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Ardelyx by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 326,124 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,653,000 after acquiring an additional 6,070 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other news, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,171 shares of the company'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 $29,061.02. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 285,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,607,140.16. This represents a 1.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 shares were sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total value of $27,768.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 303,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,707,378.48. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 116,410 shares of company stock valued at $600,475. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ARDX traded down $1.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $4.13. 20,504,591 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,428,775. The company has a current ratio of 4.58, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Ardelyx, Inc. has a twelve month low of $4.02 and a twelve month high of $9.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5.00 and a 200 day moving average of $5.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $984.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.81 and a beta of 0.76.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $74.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.11) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 61.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ARDX shares. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $11.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, March 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Ardelyx to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler raised Ardelyx to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from 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.