Wedbush Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stock

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at Wedbush from $16.00 to $19.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Wedbush’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 139.60% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on ARDX. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup increased their target price on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.30.

Ardelyx Stock Down 0.8%

ARDX stock opened at $7.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.48 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 4.41 and a quick ratio of 4.11. Ardelyx has a 1-year low of $3.21 and a 1-year high of $8.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $6.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.69.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $110.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $100.44 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.20% and a negative return on equity of 36.91%. Ardelyx’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Ardelyx will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.98, for a total transaction of $349,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 361,563 shares in the company, valued at $2,523,709.74. This trade represents a 12.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Elizabeth A. Grammer sold 5,995 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total transaction of $33,212.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 299,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,661,418.30. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 114,868 shares of company stock valued at $708,369 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARDX. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 34.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 11,250,652 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $44,103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,866,843 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 88.8% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,527,988 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $21,670,000 after buying an additional 2,600,080 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ardelyx by 14.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,369,321 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $101,215,000 after acquiring an additional 2,337,672 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Ardelyx by 1,987.6% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 865,258 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,768,000 after acquiring an additional 823,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 47.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,312,363 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,064,000 after acquiring an additional 739,300 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ardelyx

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.