Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Shares Sold by Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. trimmed its position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 771,367 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 52,155 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Ardelyx were worth $4,782,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 1,183.6% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 549,695 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after buying an additional 506,872 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 3rd quarter worth $320,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 185.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,666,267 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082,554 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ardelyx by 0.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,565,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $47,188,000 after buying an additional 97,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Ardelyx by 100.0% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 273,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,116,000 after buying an additional 136,800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ARDX shares. SVB Leerink began coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush lifted their price target on Ardelyx from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.69.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of ARDX traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $6.40. The stock had a trading volume of 6,158,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,035,210. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.73. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12-month low of $3.16 and a 12-month high of $10.13. The company has a current ratio of 4.88, a quick ratio of 4.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $34.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.26 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 53.08% and a negative return on equity of 43.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.06 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total transaction of $52,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,310,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,255,186.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total value of $52,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,310,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,255,186.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 15,344 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.18, for a total transaction of $140,857.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 384,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,525,138.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,820 shares of company stock worth $1,208,524. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.