Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Raised to Strong-Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) was upgraded by Cantor Fitzgerald to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Ardelyx from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 21st. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective (down previously from $15.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.44.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARDX opened at $5.44 on Tuesday. Ardelyx has a twelve month low of $4.32 and a twelve month high of $9.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $5.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of -34.00 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 4.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. The firm had revenue of $116.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.16 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ardelyx will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,171 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total value of $29,061.02. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 285,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,607,140.16. This represents a 1.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Mott purchased 77,729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.00 per share, for a total transaction of $388,645.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,015,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,077,470. This trade represents a 4.01 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 490,029 shares of company stock worth $2,377,766 and have sold 141,408 shares worth $761,963. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its stake in Ardelyx by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 73,950 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ardelyx by 3.4% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 90,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Ardelyx by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 154,625 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 3,550 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Ardelyx by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 463,100 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,348,000 after acquiring an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in Ardelyx by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,486 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 4,933 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

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.