BTIG Research Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by research analysts at BTIG Research in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $17.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. BTIG Research’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 121.07% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their target price on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.36.

Ardelyx Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ ARDX opened at $7.69 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $6.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.43 and a beta of 0.56. Ardelyx has a 1 year low of $3.21 and a 1 year high of $8.40. 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 (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $110.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.44 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 36.91% and a negative net margin of 14.20%.The business’s revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ardelyx will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.98, for a total transaction of $349,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 361,563 shares in the company, valued at $2,523,709.74. This 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 Mike Kelliher sold 5,560 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total transaction of $30,802.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 271,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,502,342.74. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 114,868 shares of company stock worth $708,369 over the last three months. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARDX. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,807 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 2,491 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 347,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,027,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 23,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 2,537 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,701 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 2,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 7.1% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 39,386 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,610 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.