Wedbush Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by Wedbush in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $19.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Wedbush’s target price suggests a potential upside of 231.59% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on ARDX. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $15.09.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARDX opened at $5.73 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $6.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.12. 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 has a one year low of $3.21 and a one year high of $8.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.92 and a beta of 0.57.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $125.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.04 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 40.63% and a negative net margin of 15.12%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.02 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ardelyx will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In related news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.98, for a total transaction of $349,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 361,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,523,709.74. The trade was a 12.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 2.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 159,061 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 4,436 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Ardelyx by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,378,738 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,680,000 after purchasing an additional 221,486 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in Ardelyx in the 1st quarter valued at $72,000. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Ardelyx in the 1st quarter valued at $135,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.