Ardelyx’s (ARDX) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at BTIG Research

BTIG Research reissued their buy rating on shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. BTIG Research currently has a $17.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

ARDX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler raised shares of Ardelyx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $10.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.36.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARDX opened at $7.85 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a current ratio of 4.41. Ardelyx has a one year low of $3.21 and a one year high of $8.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a PE ratio of -34.13 and a beta of 0.56.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $110.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.44 million. The firm’s revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ardelyx will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ardelyx news, insider Mike Kelliher sold 5,560 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 271,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,502,342.74. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 shares were sold at an average price of $6.98, for a total transaction of $349,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 361,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,523,709.74. This trade represents a 12.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 114,868 shares of company stock valued at $708,369 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Ardelyx by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,807 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 2,491 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 347,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,027,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 12.0% in the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 23,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 2,537 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 25.1% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,701 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 2,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in Ardelyx by 7.1% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 39,386 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,610 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.