Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Short Interest Update

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) was the target of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 24,060,000 shares, an increase of 5.1% from the October 15th total of 22,890,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,460,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.0 days.

Ardelyx Stock Down 0.2 %

ARDX stock opened at $4.96 on Tuesday. Ardelyx has a 1-year low of $4.06 and a 1-year high of $10.13. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.57 and a beta of 0.92.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In related news, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 5,312 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total value of $33,253.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 153,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $961,636.16. This represents a 3.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.22, for a total value of $46,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,219,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,585,345.98. This represents a 0.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 189,962 shares of company stock worth $1,171,128. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARDX. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 6.7% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 458,300 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,346,000 after purchasing an additional 28,900 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 100.7% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 536,297 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,915,000 after buying an additional 269,046 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 8.9% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 57,729 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 4,735 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,391,855 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $97,761,000 after acquiring an additional 365,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis bought a new stake in Ardelyx during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,015,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.