Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

ARDX has been the subject of a number of other reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. HC Wainwright restated a buy rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Leerink Partnrs reiterated an outperform rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Ardelyx from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and cut their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $7.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $11.29.

Ardelyx Stock Up 10.0 %

ARDX stock opened at $6.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 4.53 and a quick ratio of 4.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.61 and a beta of 0.83. Ardelyx has a 52-week low of $3.16 and a 52-week high of $10.13. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.40.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $73.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.03 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 31.02% and a negative return on equity of 38.41%. The company’s revenue was up 228.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.08) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ardelyx will post -0.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ardelyx news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.72, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,270,273 shares in the company, valued at $8,536,234.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Robert Blanks sold 38,000 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total value of $226,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 324,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,933,012.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.72, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,270,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,536,234.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 494,170 shares of company stock worth $3,752,676. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 1,026.3% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 3,233 shares during the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the first quarter valued at about $64,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in Ardelyx during the first quarter worth about $86,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

About Ardelyx

Ardelyx, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines to treat gastrointestinal and cardiorenal therapeutic areas in the United States and internationally. The company's lead product candidate is tenapanor for the treatment of patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation.