Scotiabank Initiates Coverage on Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Analysts at Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a “sector outperform” rating and a $15.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price indicates a potential upside of 183.02% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ARDX. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Ardelyx from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $13.00 target price (down from $15.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, February 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.95.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARDX opened at $5.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.13 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $5.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.59. The company has a current ratio of 4.58, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Ardelyx has a 1-year low of $4.32 and a 1-year high of $9.33.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $116.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.16 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ardelyx will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, Director David M. Mott bought 213,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.67 per share, for a total transaction of $996,111.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,638,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,653,032.55. This trade represents a 14.96 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,668 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total transaction of $223,340.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,635,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,764,339.68. The trade was a 2.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 490,029 shares of company stock worth $2,377,766 and have sold 183,076 shares worth $985,304. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,387,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $123,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,858,061 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $72,819,000 after buying an additional 767,111 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,141,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $83,657,000 after buying an additional 176,789 shares during the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 7,413,049 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $51,076,000 after acquiring an additional 746,067 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,509,730 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,941,000 after acquiring an additional 21,988 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

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.