Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $4.71, but opened at $4.85. Ardelyx shares last traded at $4.78, with a volume of 870,646 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ARDX shares. HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $5.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.42.

Ardelyx Trading Up 5.5 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5.93 and a 200 day moving average of $6.24. The company has a current ratio of 4.03, a quick ratio of 3.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.57 and a beta of 0.92.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In related news, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 27,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.10, for a total transaction of $165,743.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 153,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $937,057.60. This trade represents a 15.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.61, for a total value of $196,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,220,608 shares in the company, valued at $6,847,610.88. This represents a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 247,983 shares of company stock worth $1,514,002 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARDX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 2.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,391,855 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $97,761,000 after buying an additional 365,809 shares during the period. Clay Northam Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Ardelyx by 154.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clay Northam Wealth Management LLC now owns 232,377 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,722,000 after acquiring an additional 141,145 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Ardelyx by 100.7% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 536,297 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,915,000 after acquiring an additional 269,046 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ardelyx by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 57,729 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 4,735 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Ardelyx by 283.2% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 91,672 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $679,000 after purchasing an additional 67,750 shares in the last quarter. 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.