Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stake Raised by Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 546,410 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,750 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Ardelyx were worth $3,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ARDX. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ardelyx by 15.4% during the second quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 18,402 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Ardelyx by 1,026.3% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 3,233 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 29.4% in the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 23,510 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 5,346 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 46,282 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 5,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,365 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $195,000 after acquiring an additional 7,245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael Raab sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.61, for a total transaction of $196,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,220,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,847,610.88. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 5,312 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total value of $33,253.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 153,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $961,636.16. The trade was a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 234,568 shares of company stock worth $1,384,791. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ARDX. HC Wainwright lowered Ardelyx from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $5.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.42.

Ardelyx Trading Up 3.7 %

NASDAQ:ARDX opened at $5.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of -17.70 and a beta of 0.92. Ardelyx, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4.06 and a fifty-two week high of $10.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 4.03 and a quick ratio of 3.87. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $5.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.13.

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.