Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) CFO Sells $29,061.02 in Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total value of $29,061.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 285,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,607,140.16. The trade was a 1.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARDX opened at $5.06 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $5.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 4.03 and a quick ratio of 3.87. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1-year low of $4.32 and a 1-year high of $9.83. The company has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.59 and a beta of 0.85.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02. The company had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.16 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 25.74% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. Analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARDX. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Ardelyx by 13.3% in 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 last quarter. Two Seas Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at $9,407,000. Rock Springs Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at $7,421,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Ardelyx by 9,499.8% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,468,668 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,446,000 after buying an additional 1,453,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Ardelyx during the 4th quarter worth $6,762,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ARDX. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup cut their target price on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $13.00 price target (down from $15.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.93.

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.