Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Given New $19.00 Price Target at Wedbush

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Wedbush from $16.00 to $19.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 134.80% from the stock’s previous close.

ARDX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, October 31st. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.30.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of ARDX opened at $8.09 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $6.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.66. Ardelyx has a fifty-two week low of $3.21 and a fifty-two week high of $8.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a PE ratio of -35.25 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a current ratio of 4.41.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $110.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $100.44 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.20% and a negative return on equity of 36.91%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Ardelyx will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In related news, insider Mike Kelliher sold 5,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total transaction of $30,802.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 271,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,502,342.74. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 46,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total value of $259,753.98. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,455,363 shares in the company, valued at $8,062,711.02. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 114,868 shares of company stock worth $708,369 in the last 90 days. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARDX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 14.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,369,321 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $101,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,337,672 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 34.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 11,250,652 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $44,103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,866,843 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 88.8% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,527,988 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $21,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600,080 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,490,848 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,725,000 after purchasing an additional 469,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Ardelyx by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,378,738 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,680,000 after buying an additional 221,486 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Company Profile

Ardelyx, Inc (NASDAQ: ARDX) is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing targeted small molecule drugs for cardio‐renal and gastrointestinal diseases. The company’s lead marketed product, tenapanor (sold under the brand name XPHOZAH in the United States), is approved for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis. Ardelyx’s proprietary approach targets epithelial transporters in the gastrointestinal tract, offering localized activity with limited systemic exposure.

Beyond tenapanor, Ardelyx’s development pipeline includes treatments designed to address other complications in kidney disease and related metabolic disorders.