Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $10.95.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ARDX shares. Piper Sandler raised Ardelyx to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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 restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued 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 reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARDX opened at $5.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 4.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of -32.06 and a beta of 0.87. Ardelyx has a 52 week low of $4.32 and a 52 week high of $9.33.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02. The company had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.16 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. Analysts predict that Ardelyx will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David M. Mott acquired 199,000 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.99 per share, with a total value of $993,010.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,937,765 shares in the company, valued at $9,669,447.35. This trade represents a 11.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,668 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $8,764,339.68. This represents a 2.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 158,076 shares of company stock worth $853,804 in the last ninety days. 5.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 176,789 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 68.5% during the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 3,060,191 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $21,085,000 after buying an additional 1,243,606 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 274.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 181,387 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,250,000 after buying an additional 132,928 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP purchased a new position in Ardelyx in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,445,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ardelyx by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,144 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,667,000 after acquiring an additional 6,093 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.