Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stock Price Down 6.8% on Insider Selling

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) traded down 6.8% during trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $7.21 and last traded at $7.2150. 2,661,161 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 9,203,950 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.74.

Specifically, insider Laura A. Williams sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.98, for a total transaction of $349,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 361,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,523,709.74. This trade represents a 12.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARDX has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Ardelyx from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush downgraded shares of Ardelyx from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.80.

Ardelyx Stock Down 6.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 4.41 and a quick ratio of 4.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.51. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of -31.50 and a beta of 0.56.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.06. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.20% and a negative return on equity of 36.91%. The firm had revenue of $110.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.44 million. The company’s revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARDX. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 159,061 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 4,436 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 10.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,378,738 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,680,000 after acquiring an additional 221,486 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 1st quarter worth about $135,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 339,436 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 13,312 shares during the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ardelyx

Ardelyx, Inc (NASDAQ: ARDX) is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing targeted small molecule drugs for cardio‐renal and gastrointestinal diseases. The company’s lead marketed product, tenapanor (sold under the brand name XPHOZAH in the United States), is approved for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis. Ardelyx’s proprietary approach targets epithelial transporters in the gastrointestinal tract, offering localized activity with limited systemic exposure.

Beyond tenapanor, Ardelyx’s development pipeline includes treatments designed to address other complications in kidney disease and related metabolic disorders.