Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 348,642 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 283.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 471,453 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 348,642 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.20% of Ardelyx worth $3,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARDX. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 34.5% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 63,176 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 16,198 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 1,026.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 3,233 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Ardelyx by 34.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 588,192 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,359,000 after purchasing an additional 149,365 shares during the last quarter. Clay Northam Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Ardelyx by 154.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clay Northam Wealth Management LLC now owns 232,377 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,722,000 after purchasing an additional 141,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. raised its position in Ardelyx by 15.4% during the 2nd 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. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Price Performance

NASDAQ ARDX opened at $5.96 on Thursday. Ardelyx, Inc. has a one year low of $3.16 and a one year high of $10.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $5.80 and a 200 day moving average of $6.82. The company has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.29 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 3.99 and a current ratio of 4.21.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $73.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.03 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 39.73% and a negative net margin of 31.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 228.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.26 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 30,000 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.64, for a total transaction of $169,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,260,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,109,011.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Robert Blanks sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total value of $226,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 324,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,933,012.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.64, for a total value of $169,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,260,463 shares in the company, valued at $7,109,011.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 164,560 shares of company stock valued at $971,020. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARDX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, June 20th. HC Wainwright upped their target price on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded Ardelyx from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $15.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ardelyx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.67.

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.