Franklin Resources Inc. Has $718,000 Stock Holdings in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 44.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,209 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 81,853 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Ardelyx were worth $718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its position 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 worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,346 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ardelyx by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 46,282 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 5,890 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 7,245 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 2nd quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 328.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,814 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 9,821 shares in the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on ARDX shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. HC Wainwright cut Ardelyx from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $5.50 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.42.

Ardelyx Trading Up 8.3 %

Ardelyx stock opened at $5.21 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 3.87 and a current ratio of 4.03. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.37 and a beta of 0.83. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52 week low of $4.32 and a 52 week high of $10.13.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.01, for a total value of $45,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,210,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,272,749.08. This represents a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David M. Mott acquired 213,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $4.67 per share, with a total value of $996,111.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,638,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,653,032.55. The trade was a 14.96 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 184,192 shares of company stock worth $1,013,345. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.