Ardelyx Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 11,731 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 328% compared to the average volume of 2,743 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on ARDX shares. BTIG Research dropped their price target on Ardelyx from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $9.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.90.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARDX traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $3.89. The company had a trading volume of 573,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,274,778. The company has a current ratio of 3.34, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Ardelyx has a 1 year low of $3.72 and a 1 year high of $8.40. The company has a market capitalization of $968.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.75 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $5.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.77.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $120.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.03 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 36.00% and a negative net margin of 12.35%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ardelyx will post -0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 10.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,378,738 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,680,000 after buying an additional 221,486 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in Ardelyx during the first quarter valued at $72,000. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Ardelyx during the first quarter valued at $135,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Ardelyx by 13.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 275,344 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,080,000 after buying an additional 32,738 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

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.