Insider Selling: Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Insider Sells $61,068.15 in Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) insider Eric Duane Foster sold 10,439 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total value of $61,068.15. Following the transaction, the insider owned 425,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,491,924.50. This represents a 2.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Ardelyx stock opened at $6.56 on Thursday. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52-week low of $3.21 and a 52-week high of $8.40. The company has a quick ratio of 4.11, a current ratio of 4.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $6.79 and its 200 day moving average is $6.14. The company has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.24 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Ardelyx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.09.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Horizon Corp lifted its position 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. DCF Advisers LLC bought a new position in Ardelyx in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Ardelyx during the second quarter worth $40,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Ardelyx by 147.0% during the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 10,253 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 6,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter worth $60,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.