Eric Duane Foster Sells 7,998 Shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) insider Eric Duane Foster sold 7,998 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total value of $50,147.46. Following the transaction, the insider owned 417,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,620,684.44. This represents a 1.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of Ardelyx stock traded down $0.24 on Friday, reaching $6.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,314,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,388,985. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.56 and a beta of 0.62. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52-week low of $3.49 and a 52-week high of $8.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $6.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.29. The company has a quick ratio of 3.28, a current ratio of 3.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $94.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.78 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 13.58% and a negative return on equity of 38.11%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.17) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.05 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ARDX shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Leerink Partners reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $17.00 price target on Ardelyx in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.70.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 38,512 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 1,722 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,807 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 2,491 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 347,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,027,000 after buying an additional 2,532 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 59,359 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 2,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 24.2% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 15,263 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 2,975 shares during the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.