Brokerages Set Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Price Target at $15.70

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $15.70.

Several brokerages have commented on ARDX. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. 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. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Williams Trading set a $17.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 29th.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARDX opened at $5.94 on Wednesday. Ardelyx has a 1 year low of $3.21 and a 1 year high of $8.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of -23.76 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $6.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 4.31 and a quick ratio of 4.11.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) 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%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.02 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Ardelyx will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David M. Mott purchased 333,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.84 per share, for a total transaction of $1,946,664.72. Following the purchase, the director owned 3,302,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,289,041.12. The trade was a 11.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mike Kelliher sold 9,595 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total transaction of $56,130.75. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 364,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,133,296.10. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 178,604 shares of company stock worth $1,100,917. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Ardelyx by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,979,483 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $110,650,000 after buying an additional 610,162 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,514,692 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $84,583,000 after acquiring an additional 690,599 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,912,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $69,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193,649 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Ardelyx by 34.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 11,250,652 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $44,103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,866,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ardelyx by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,827,618 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,981,000 after purchasing an additional 70,832 shares in the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.