Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) PT Raised to $14.00

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Wedbush from $13.00 to $14.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Wedbush’s target price points to a potential upside of 117.39% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, January 12th. SVB Leerink began coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.69.

Ardelyx Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of ARDX stock opened at $6.44 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $8.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.57. The company has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of -21.47 and a beta of 0.85. Ardelyx has a fifty-two week low of $3.16 and a fifty-two week high of $10.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 4.64 and a current ratio of 4.88.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $34.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.26 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 53.08% and a negative return on equity of 43.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.06 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ardelyx will post -0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total transaction of $52,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,310,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,255,186.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ardelyx news, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 15,344 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.18, for a total transaction of $140,857.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 384,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,525,138.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total transaction of $52,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,310,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,255,186.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,820 shares of company stock valued at $1,208,524 in the last three months. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ARDX. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 2,227.1% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,203,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $72,823,000 after acquiring an additional 14,549,803 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 278.7% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,030,392 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $47,563,000 after acquiring an additional 10,325,699 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Ardelyx during the second quarter worth $2,950,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 152.5% during the fourth quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 6,805,494 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $42,194,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 597.7% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,137,693 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $15,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,688,000 shares in the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ardelyx

Ardelyx, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines to treat gastrointestinal and cardiorenal therapeutic areas in the United States and internationally. The company's lead product candidate is tenapanor for the treatment of patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation.