Raymond James & Associates Takes Position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Raymond James & Associates purchased a new position in Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 15,813 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $98,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ARDX. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 3rd quarter worth about $63,000. Laurion Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 3rd quarter valued at about $81,000. Finally, Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Ardelyx by 99.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 48,150 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $196,000 after buying an additional 24,000 shares during the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In related news, CEO Michael Raab sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.40, for a total transaction of $192,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,310,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,389,971.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,341 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.75, for a total value of $46,733.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 304,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,667,306.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.40, for a total transaction of $192,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,310,933 shares in the company, valued at $8,389,971.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 178,820 shares of company stock valued at $1,400,524 over the last 90 days. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

ARDX stock opened at $6.61 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.75. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.03 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 4.64, a current ratio of 4.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Ardelyx, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3.16 and a fifty-two week high of $10.13.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly 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). Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 43.57% and a negative net margin of 53.08%. The company had revenue of $34.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ARDX. StockNews.com downgraded Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $9.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.69.

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.