Justin A. Renz Sells 5,289 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.86, for a total value of $30,993.54. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 295,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,730,206.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ardelyx Stock Down 5.0 %

ARDX stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $6.05. The company had a trading volume of 3,183,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,435,967. The company has a 50 day moving average of $5.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.14. The company has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.61 and a beta of 0.83. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1 year low of $3.16 and a 1 year high of $10.13. The company has a current ratio of 4.53, a quick ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $73.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.03 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 38.41% and a negative net margin of 31.02%. Ardelyx’s quarterly revenue was up 228.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.08) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARDX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 2.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,391,855 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $97,761,000 after buying an additional 365,809 shares during the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its position in Ardelyx by 152.5% in the fourth quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 6,805,494 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $42,194,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110,494 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 4,012,753 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,879,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512,753 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 68.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,913,863 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $28,572,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 142.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,203,090 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,995 shares during the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARDX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Ardelyx from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $7.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ardelyx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.43.

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.