LADENBURG THALM/SH SH Initiates Coverage on Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Analysts at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) in a report issued on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH’s price target points to a potential upside of 179.43% from the stock’s previous close.

ARDX has been the subject of several other reports. Leerink Partners reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.73.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of ARDX traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $5.73. The stock had a trading volume of 114,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,164,469. Ardelyx has a one year low of $3.49 and a one year high of $8.40. The company has a current ratio of 3.49, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of -25.02 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.29.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $94.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.78 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 38.11% and a negative net margin of 13.58%.Ardelyx’s quarterly revenue was up 27.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.17) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ardelyx will post -0.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In related news, insider Mike Kelliher sold 7,248 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total transaction of $45,444.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 357,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,241,010.86. This trade represents a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric Duane Foster sold 7,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total transaction of $50,147.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 417,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,620,684.44. This represents a 1.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $154,066. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Horizon Corp grew its position in Ardelyx by 120.4% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 7,906 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 4,319 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. Krilogy Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the 1st quarter worth $70,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the third quarter worth $62,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by 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.