Insider Selling: Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) CEO Sells 41,666 Shares of Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.84, for a total value of $243,329.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,816,448 shares in the company, valued at $10,608,056.32. This represents a 2.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Michael Raab also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, February 20th, Michael Raab sold 45,982 shares of Ardelyx stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total value of $268,994.70.

Ardelyx Trading Down 4.8%

ARDX stock traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $5.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,907,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,895,942. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.21 and a 12 month high of $8.40. The company has a current ratio of 4.31, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $6.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.16. The company has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.20 and a beta of 0.61.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $125.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.04 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 40.63% and a negative net margin of 15.12%.Ardelyx’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Leerink Partners reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Williams Trading set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.70.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARDX. DCF Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. First Horizon Corp boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 120.4% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 7,906 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 4,319 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 147.0% during the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 10,253 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 6,102 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the third quarter worth approximately $57,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.