Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Downgraded by Piper Sandler to “Neutral”

Piper Sandler lowered shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. Piper Sandler currently has $7.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $15.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on ARDX. StockNews.com cut shares of Ardelyx from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reiterated an outperform rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $11.81.

Ardelyx Price Performance

NASDAQ:ARDX opened at $5.28 on Tuesday. Ardelyx has a 52-week low of $3.16 and a 52-week high of $10.13. The company has a quick ratio of 4.36, a current ratio of 4.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.86 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $7.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.64.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $46.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.40 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 41.36% and a negative return on equity of 41.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 303.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.13) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ardelyx will post -0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In other news, insider Robert Ora Felsch sold 207,988 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.81, for a total transaction of $1,832,374.28. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 95,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $845,293.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Robert Ora Felsch sold 207,988 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.81, for a total value of $1,832,374.28. Following the sale, the insider now owns 95,947 shares in the company, valued at $845,293.07. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.40, for a total transaction of $192,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,310,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,389,971.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 534,119 shares of company stock worth $4,117,225 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,112 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 1,575 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 30,269 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Ardelyx by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 57,729 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 4,735 shares during the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,100 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 7,117 shares in the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ardelyx Company Profile

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.