Investors Purchase High Volume of Ardelyx Call Options (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 18,613 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 219% compared to the typical daily volume of 5,838 call options.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Ardelyx stock opened at $8.72 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $7.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 4.64 and a current ratio of 4.88. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.07 and a beta of 0.87. Ardelyx has a 52 week low of $3.16 and a 52 week high of $10.13.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 53.08% and a negative return on equity of 43.57%. The firm had revenue of $46.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.13) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 303.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Ardelyx will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ARDX. Leerink Partnrs reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. StockNews.com lowered Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.81.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, CEO Michael Raab sold 22,917 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.75, for a total transaction of $200,523.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,319,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,549,571.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,341 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.75, for a total value of $46,733.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 304,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,667,306.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 22,917 shares of the 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 $200,523.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,319,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,549,571.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 178,820 shares of company stock valued at $1,400,524. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in Ardelyx by 1,183.6% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 549,695 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 506,872 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the 3rd quarter valued at $320,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 185.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,666,267 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082,554 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 0.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,565,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $47,188,000 after purchasing an additional 97,951 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 100.0% in the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 273,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 136,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

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.