Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) CEO Michael Raab Sells 45,982 Shares of Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) CEO Michael Raab sold 45,982 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total value of $268,994.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,856,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,863,368.10. This trade represents a 2.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of Ardelyx stock opened at $5.75 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.31, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.00 and a beta of 0.57. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.21 and a 1-year high of $8.40.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $125.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.04 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 40.63% and a negative net margin of 15.12%.The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Ardelyx

Here are the key news stories impacting Ardelyx this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director David M. Mott purchased 333,333 shares (~$1.95M) at about $5.84, increasing his stake by ~11.2% — a strong insider vote of confidence that can support the stock. SEC Filing: Director Purchase
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $19 price target (large upside vs. current levels), which can attract buyers and boost sentiment. Wedbush Note via Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Other firms reiterated bullish views (BTIG buy rating; HC Wainwright optimistic on FY2026 earnings), reinforcing analyst support that can sustain buying interest. BTIG Reiteration HC Wainwright Note
• Neutral Sentiment: Quarterly revenue beat estimates ($125.2M vs. $118.0M) and year-over-year revenue growth of ~7.8% — a constructive fundamental datapoint, though offset by an EPS miss. (Earnings release was on Feb 19.)
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings EPS missed expectations (reported a loss vs. small expected profit), which triggered a sell-off (shares were reported down ~10.4% after the earnings release). EPS misses typically pressure sentiment and can lead to continued volatility. Earnings Reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insiders — including the CEO, CFO and several executives — sold shares on Feb 20 (notably the CEO sold ~45,982 shares). Clustered insider selling can be read as profit-taking or reduced insider conviction and may weigh on sentiment. (These sales occurred near $5.85.) SEC Filing: CEO Sale

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARDX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upgraded Ardelyx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $10.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.09.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARDX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ardelyx by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,979,483 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $110,650,000 after acquiring an additional 610,162 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Ardelyx by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,514,692 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $84,583,000 after purchasing an additional 690,599 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,912,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,449,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193,649 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 34.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 11,250,652 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $44,103,000 after buying an additional 2,866,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,827,618 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,981,000 after buying an additional 70,832 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ardelyx Company Profile

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.