Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $15.5556.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ARDX. Piper Sandler raised shares of Ardelyx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $16.00 in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup raised their price target on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael Raab sold 45,982 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total value of $268,994.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,856,986 shares in the company, valued at $10,863,368.10. The trade was a 2.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph James Reilly sold 4,991 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total value of $29,197.35. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 151,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $887,971.50. This represents a 3.18% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 136,938 shares of company stock valued at $857,587 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARDX. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ardelyx by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 317,410 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,851,000 after acquiring an additional 59,597 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Ardelyx by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 38,512 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Ardelyx by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 199,550 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 22,715 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ardelyx by 1,690.9% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 17,909 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 16,909 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Ardelyx during the 4th quarter valued at about $698,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of ARDX stock opened at $6.19 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 4.31 and a quick ratio of 4.11. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.76 and a beta of 0.61. Ardelyx has a one year low of $3.21 and a one year high of $8.40.

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

Ardelyx Company Profile

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.