Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 96,357 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,035,135 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 96,357 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ardelyx were worth $10,318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 67.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,452,176 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,363,000 after buying an additional 583,550 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 175.5% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 469,819 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,382,000 after buying an additional 299,275 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,142 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 12,703 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Stock Down 6.6 %

NASDAQ ARDX opened at $5.13 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.43 and a 200-day moving average of $5.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.06 and a beta of 0.87. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52 week low of $4.32 and a 52 week high of $9.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 4.58.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.02. The company had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.16 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David M. Mott acquired 199,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.99 per share, with a total value of $993,010.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,937,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,669,447.35. This trade represents a 11.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,668 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total value of $223,340.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,635,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,764,339.68. This trade represents a 2.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 158,076 shares of company stock valued at $853,804. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARDX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank initiated 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. Piper Sandler raised Ardelyx to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ardelyx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.95.

Ardelyx Company 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.