Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Trading Up 4%

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)’s share price was up 4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $6.74 and last traded at $6.72. Approximately 1,192,480 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 5,967,526 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on ARDX shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $9.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, April 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.69.

Ardelyx Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 4.88, a quick ratio of 4.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $7.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.73.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $34.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.26 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 43.57% and a negative net margin of 53.08%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.06 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In related news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total transaction of $52,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,310,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,255,186.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ardelyx news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total value of $52,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,310,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,255,186.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 15,344 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.18, for a total value of $140,857.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 384,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,525,138.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,820 shares of company stock valued at $1,208,524 in the last 90 days. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 347.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 122,811 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $897,000 after purchasing an additional 95,361 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 44,754 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 17,903 shares during the period. HighMark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the 1st quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Ardelyx by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 438,827 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,203,000 after acquiring an additional 118,879 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.