Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $10.42.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ARDX. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. HC Wainwright cut Ardelyx from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $5.50 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Ardelyx Stock Up 5.5 %

Shares of ARDX opened at $4.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.03, a quick ratio of 3.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.57 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $5.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.24. Ardelyx has a 12 month low of $3.83 and a 12 month high of $10.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.22, for a total transaction of $46,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,219,509 shares in the company, valued at $7,585,345.98. The trade was a 0.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 49,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.92, for a total transaction of $342,982.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 301,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,089,466.32. This represents a 14.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 247,983 shares of company stock worth $1,514,002. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARDX. World Equity Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 18,402 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 2,453 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ardelyx by 1,026.3% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 3,233 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Ardelyx by 8.9% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 57,729 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 4,735 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 23,510 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 46,282 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 5,890 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardelyx Company Profile

Ardelyx, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines to treat gastrointestinal and cardiorenal therapeutic areas in the United States and internationally. The company’s lead product candidate is tenapanor for the treatment of patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation.