Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.90.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ARDX. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $9.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 17th.

Ardelyx Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ ARDX opened at $3.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.15, a current ratio of 3.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.60. The firm has a market cap of $946.92 million, a PE ratio of -17.27 and a beta of 0.70. Ardelyx has a twelve month low of $3.68 and a twelve month high of $8.40.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $120.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.03 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 36.00% and a negative net margin of 12.35%.Ardelyx’s quarterly revenue was up 34.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ardelyx will post -0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 10,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.86, for a total transaction of $41,452.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 367,456 shares in the company, valued at $1,418,380.16. The trade was a 2.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric Duane Foster sold 8,562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.86, for a total transaction of $33,049.32. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 409,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,580,322.60. The trade was a 2.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 126,059 shares of company stock worth $486,588 over the last ninety days. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Ardelyx during the 2nd quarter worth $119,874,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ardelyx by 3.3% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Ardelyx by 5.0% in 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 grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 22.6% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 1.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 70,832 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

About Ardelyx

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.