Jones Financial Companies Lllp Grows Stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 67.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,452,176 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 583,550 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp owned approximately 0.61% of Ardelyx worth $7,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Ardelyx by 3.4% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 90,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 10.9% in the 4th 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. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 23,510 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,346 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 326,124 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,653,000 after purchasing an additional 6,070 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ardelyx by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,144 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,667,000 after buying an additional 6,093 shares during the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARDX has been the subject of a number of research reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.93.

Ardelyx Trading Down 5.2 %

NASDAQ ARDX opened at $5.08 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 4.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.75 and a beta of 0.85. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52-week low of $4.32 and a 52-week high of $9.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $5.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.61.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. The business had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.16 million. Equities research analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 4,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total transaction of $27,768.42. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 303,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,707,378.48. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.26, for a total transaction of $131,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,150,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,051,025.10. This trade represents a 2.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 490,029 shares of company stock worth $2,377,766 and sold 141,408 shares worth $761,963. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.