Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.5556.

ARDX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Ardelyx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 8th.

Ardelyx Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:ARDX opened at $6.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.31, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Ardelyx has a 1-year low of $3.21 and a 1-year high of $8.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.76 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $6.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.17.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced 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 company had revenue of $125.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.04 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 15.12% and a negative return on equity of 40.63%. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.02 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ardelyx will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, 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 value of $56,130.75. Following the transaction, the insider owned 364,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,133,296.10. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph James Reilly sold 4,991 shares of the company’s 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 $29,197.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 151,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $887,971.50. This trade represents a 3.18% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 136,938 shares of company stock worth $857,587 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Ardelyx by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 317,410 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,851,000 after acquiring an additional 59,597 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 38,512 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 199,550 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 22,715 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 1,690.9% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 17,909 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 16,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at about $698,000. 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.