Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Shares Down 3.2% After Insider Selling

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) fell 3.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $5.78 and last traded at $5.78. 1,732,343 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 4,944,993 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.97.

Specifically, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.01, for a total transaction of $45,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,210,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,272,749.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ARDX shares. StockNews.com raised Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Ardelyx from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $11.67.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.89 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 3.99, a current ratio of 4.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.43.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $73.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.03 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 39.73% and a negative net margin of 31.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 228.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.08) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Redmile Group LLC acquired a new position in Ardelyx during the first quarter worth $16,020,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 142.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,203,090 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883,995 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 68.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,913,863 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $28,572,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584,597 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 2.8% during the first 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 period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 375.9% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 460,689 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,414,000 after acquiring an additional 363,894 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.