Raymond James Financial Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Raymond James Financial in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $12.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $11.00. Raymond James Financial’s target price suggests a potential upside of 130.77% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. HC Wainwright initiated coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 target price (up previously from $13.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $11.50.

Ardelyx Price Performance

ARDX stock opened at $5.20 on Tuesday. Ardelyx has a 52-week low of $3.21 and a 52-week high of $7.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a current ratio of 4.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.63. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.61 and a beta of 0.68.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $97.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $82.69 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.60% and a negative return on equity of 36.57%. The company’s revenue was up 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.07) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ardelyx will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 46,817 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.08, for a total value of $191,013.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,547,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,582.96. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Mott purchased 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $3.63 per share, for a total transaction of $726,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,896,871 shares in the company, valued at $10,515,641.73. This trade represents a 7.42% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 500,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,793,000 and have sold 83,477 shares valued at $340,586. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARDX. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Ardelyx during the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.