Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ardelyx from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.73.

Ardelyx Trading Down 1.9%

ARDX opened at $5.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.87 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $5.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.20. Ardelyx has a one year low of $4.07 and a one year high of $8.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a current ratio of 3.49.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.02). Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 38.11% and a negative net margin of 13.58%.The business had revenue of $94.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.17) earnings per share. Ardelyx’s revenue was up 27.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ardelyx will post -0.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In other news, insider Mike Kelliher sold 7,248 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total transaction of $45,444.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 357,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,241,010.86. This represents a 1.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric Duane Foster sold 7,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total value of $50,147.46. Following the transaction, the insider owned 417,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,620,684.44. This represents a 1.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 24,572 shares of company stock worth $154,066 over the last 90 days. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARDX. First Horizon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 120.4% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 7,906 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 4,319 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Krilogy Financial LLC purchased a new position in Ardelyx during the first quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Finally, PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Ardelyx during the first quarter valued at approximately $65,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.