Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Insider Sells 10,439 Shares

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) insider Eric Duane Foster sold 10,439 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total value of $61,068.15. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 425,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,491,924.50. This trade represents a 2.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Ardelyx Stock Up 0.3%

ARDX stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $5.75. The stock had a trading volume of 7,054,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,578,790. The business has a 50-day moving average of $6.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.13. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.00 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 4.31 and a quick ratio of 4.11. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52-week low of $3.21 and a 52-week high of $8.40.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.03). Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 15.12% and a negative return on equity of 40.63%. The firm had revenue of $125.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARDX. DCF Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. First Horizon Corp lifted its holdings in Ardelyx by 120.4% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 7,906 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 4,319 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 147.0% in the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 10,253 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 6,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Ardelyx in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $10.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.09.

Ardelyx Company Profile

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.