Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stock Price

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) had its target price decreased by stock analysts at Citigroup from $14.00 to $11.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target suggests a potential upside of 175.34% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. BTIG Research reduced their price objective on Ardelyx from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings cut Ardelyx from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.00.

Ardelyx Price Performance

NASDAQ:ARDX traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $4.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,839,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,226,860. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $995.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.20 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 3.49 and a quick ratio of 3.28. Ardelyx has a one year low of $3.90 and a one year high of $8.40.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $120.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.03 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 35.57% and a negative net margin of 12.35%.Ardelyx’s quarterly revenue was up 34.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ardelyx will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In related news, insider Eric Duane Foster sold 7,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total transaction of $50,147.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 417,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,620,684.44. This trade represents a 1.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Mike Kelliher sold 7,248 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total value of $45,444.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 357,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,010.86. The trade was a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,572 shares of company stock worth $154,066. Insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 120.4% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 7,906 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 4,319 shares during the period. SCS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ardelyx during the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ardelyx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Ardelyx in the second quarter worth approximately $61,000. Finally, PVG Asset Management Corp bought a new position in Ardelyx in the first quarter worth approximately $65,000. 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.