Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Share Price Passes Above 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)’s share price passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $5.76 and traded as high as $6.73. Ardelyx shares last traded at $6.06, with a volume of 18,712,632 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Ardelyx from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group set a $12.00 price objective on Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Ardelyx from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $14.00 price target (up from $13.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.55.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $5.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of -26.35 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 4.03, a current ratio of 4.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $110.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $100.44 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 36.57% and a negative net margin of 14.60%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.12, for a total value of $489,600.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 366,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,890.64. This trade represents a 17.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mike Kelliher sold 5,417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.93, for a total value of $32,122.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 276,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,641,074.13. The trade was a 1.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 165,551 shares of company stock valued at $996,917. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARDX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 87.5% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 53,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 24,893 shares in the last quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Ardelyx by 1.1% in the first quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC now owns 523,345 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,569,000 after buying an additional 5,564 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Ardelyx by 305.3% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 73,769 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 55,569 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in Ardelyx by 4,554.4% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 79,777 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 78,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Ardelyx in the first quarter valued at $2,085,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ardelyx

Ardelyx, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines to treat gastrointestinal and cardiorenal therapeutic areas in the United States and internationally. The company’s lead product candidate is tenapanor for the treatment of patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation.