Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Shares Gap Up on Insider Buying Activity

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $5.75, but opened at $6.21. Ardelyx shares last traded at $6.12, with a volume of 1,232,841 shares traded.

Specifically, Director David M. Mott acquired 333,333 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.84 per share, with a total value of $1,946,664.72. Following the purchase, the director owned 3,302,918 shares in the company, valued at $19,289,041.12. This trade represents a 11.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ARDX. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $10.00 to $16.00 in a report on Thursday, January 8th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.09.

Ardelyx News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Ardelyx this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director David M. Mott bought 333,333 shares (~$1.95M) at about $5.84, increasing his stake ~11.2% — a strong insider vote of confidence that can support the stock. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Ardelyx announced a multi‑year partnership with the LPGA to raise awareness and reduce stigma around digestive health — a marketing push that could help commercial uptake of XPHOZAH/brand awareness over time. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong — Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform with a $19 target and other firms (BTIG, HC Wainwright, Jefferies, Citi) have reiterated buys or raised targets, which can attract buyers. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Quarterly revenue beat estimates ($125.2M vs. $118.0M) and revenue grew ~7.8% y/y — constructive fundamental data but partially offset by the EPS miss.
• Neutral Sentiment: Post‑results commentary includes valuation and guidance analysis (coverage piece on Yahoo Finance reviewing 2025 results and 2026 guidance) — useful for longer‑term investors assessing upside vs. risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Ardelyx missed EPS expectations (reported a small loss vs. a modest expected profit), which triggered a post‑earnings pullback and adds short‑term risk for the shares. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insiders (including CEO Michael Raab, CFO Susan Hohenleitner and several executives) sold shares around Feb. 20 (CEO sold ~45,982 shares), which can be perceived as profit‑taking and may pressure sentiment despite the director buy. Read More.

Ardelyx Trading Up 14.1%

The stock has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of -26.24 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a current ratio of 4.31. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $6.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.14.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.03). Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 15.12% and a negative return on equity of 40.63%. The business had revenue of $125.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.02 EPS. Ardelyx’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake 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 buying an additional 2,866,843 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $708,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 488.0% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 306,547 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after purchasing an additional 254,417 shares during the last quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,176,000. Finally, AIGH Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the 3rd quarter worth $1,094,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently 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.