Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $10.89.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $15.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of Ardelyx stock opened at $3.69 on Monday. Ardelyx has a 12 month low of $3.21 and a 12 month high of $8.06. The company has a current ratio of 4.12, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $4.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $882.87 million, a PE ratio of -16.77 and a beta of 0.60.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $74.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.40 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 34.45% and a negative net margin of 14.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 61.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.11) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ardelyx will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In related news, CEO Michael Raab sold 46,817 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.08, for a total transaction of $191,013.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,547,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,315,582.96. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Mott bought 381,377 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.22 per share, for a total transaction of $1,609,410.94. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,396,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,114,795.62. This represents a 18.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 881,377 shares of company stock worth $3,402,411 and have sold 166,809 shares worth $708,914. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARDX. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 326,124 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,653,000 after acquiring an additional 6,070 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Ardelyx by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,142 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 12,703 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at $91,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Ardelyx by 67.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,452,176 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,363,000 after acquiring an additional 583,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ardelyx Company Profile

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.