Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Trading Down 6.9% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) fell 6.9% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $5.88 and last traded at $5.7250. 1,836,698 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 4,476,132 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Ardelyx from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.10.

Ardelyx Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $5.77 and its 200-day moving average is $5.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 4.41 and a quick ratio of 4.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of -26.63 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, insider Mike Kelliher sold 5,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total transaction of $30,802.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 271,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,502,342.74. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Elizabeth A. Grammer sold 5,995 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total value of $33,212.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 299,895 shares in the company, valued at $1,661,418.30. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 64,868 shares of company stock worth $359,369 over the last 90 days. 4.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ardelyx by 79.6% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 233,248 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $914,000 after purchasing an additional 103,385 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake 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 worth $44,103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,866,843 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 188.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,573,063 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027,814 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the second quarter valued at about $708,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Ardelyx by 118.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,465,262 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,744,000 after buying an additional 3,501,782 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.