Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Insider Mike Kelliher Sells 9,595 Shares of Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) insider Mike Kelliher sold 9,595 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total transaction of $56,130.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 364,666 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,296.10. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Ardelyx Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of ARDX stock opened at $5.75 on Tuesday. Ardelyx, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3.21 and a fifty-two week high of $8.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $6.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a current ratio of 4.31. The company has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a PE ratio of -23.00 and a beta of 0.57.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $125.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.04 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 40.63% and a negative net margin of 15.12%.Ardelyx’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.02 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Ardelyx News

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

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler raised Ardelyx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $10.00 to $16.00 in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.09.

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.