Wedbush Issues Positive Forecast for Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stock Price

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) had its price target hoisted by Wedbush from $16.00 to $19.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

ARDX has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup lifted 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. BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.30.

Ardelyx Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:ARDX opened at $7.99 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $6.11 and its 200 day moving average is $5.68. The company has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a PE ratio of -34.74 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 4.41 and a quick ratio of 4.11. Ardelyx has a 1 year low of $3.21 and a 1 year high of $8.17.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $110.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $100.44 million. Ardelyx’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ardelyx will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $30,802.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 271,181 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.98, for a total transaction of $349,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 361,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,523,709.74. The trade was a 12.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 114,868 shares of company stock worth $708,369 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 14.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,369,321 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $101,215,000 after buying an additional 2,337,672 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Ardelyx by 34.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 11,250,652 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $44,103,000 after acquiring an additional 2,866,843 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Ardelyx by 88.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,527,988 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $21,670,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600,080 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in Ardelyx by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,490,848 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,725,000 after acquiring an additional 469,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,378,738 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,680,000 after purchasing an additional 221,486 shares during the last quarter. 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.