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

Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $11.7273.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ARDX. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group set a $12.00 price target on Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mike Kelliher sold 5,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total value of $30,802.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 271,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,502,342.74. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Elizabeth A. Grammer sold 5,995 shares of Ardelyx 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 transaction, the insider owned 299,895 shares in the company, valued at $1,661,418.30. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 64,868 shares of company stock worth $359,369. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARDX. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Ardelyx by 118.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,465,262 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,744,000 after acquiring an additional 3,501,782 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the first quarter worth approximately $16,735,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 34.2% during 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 during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Ardelyx by 88.8% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,527,988 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $21,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ardelyx by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,369,321 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $101,215,000 after buying an additional 2,337,672 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ardelyx Price Performance

NASDAQ ARDX opened at $5.93 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $5.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.00. Ardelyx has a 52 week low of $3.21 and a 52 week high of $6.78. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.78 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 4.30, a quick ratio of 4.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $110.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.44 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 36.57% and a negative net margin of 14.60%.Ardelyx’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Ardelyx will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

About Ardelyx

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.