Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 336,014 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) by 71.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 135,439 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 336,014 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ardelyx were worth $933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Ardelyx by 34.5% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 63,176 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 16,198 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the second quarter worth $832,000. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its stake in Ardelyx by 89.1% during the second quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 28,770 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 13,557 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter worth $62,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter worth $446,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 27,172 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.95, for a total transaction of $161,673.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 153,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $914,015.20. The trade was a 15.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David M. Mott acquired 213,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $4.67 per share, for a total transaction of $996,111.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,638,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,653,032.55. This represents a 14.96 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 184,192 shares of company stock worth $1,013,345 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Trading Down 2.9 %

ARDX opened at $4.97 on Friday. Ardelyx, Inc. has a one year low of $4.32 and a one year high of $10.13. 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 market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.57 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $5.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.73.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on ARDX. HC Wainwright downgraded Ardelyx from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $5.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup decreased 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.07.

Ardelyx 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.