Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Reduces Position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. trimmed its stake in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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. owned 0.33% of Ardelyx worth $4,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $848,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 37.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 57,425 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 15,554 shares in the last quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 3rd quarter valued at $307,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Ardelyx by 100.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,255,186.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ardelyx news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total transaction of $52,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,310,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,255,186.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Elizabeth A. Grammer sold 86,000 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.73, for a total value of $664,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 312,993 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,435.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,820 shares of company stock valued at $1,208,524 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ARDX. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, January 12th. SVB Leerink started coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $9.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.69.

Ardelyx Stock Down 0.9 %

ARDX traded down $0.06 on Tuesday, reaching $6.40. 6,158,450 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,035,210. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.73. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $3.16 and a one year high of $10.13.

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