Analysts Set Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Target Price at $10.95

Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $10.95.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $13.00 price target (down from $15.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of Ardelyx stock opened at $4.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 4.58. Ardelyx has a 52-week low of $4.32 and a 52-week high of $9.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $5.40 and a 200-day moving average of $5.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.81 and a beta of 0.87.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.02. The business had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.16 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 11.73% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. Equities research analysts expect that Ardelyx will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In related news, Director David M. Mott acquired 199,000 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $4.99 per share, with a total value of $993,010.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,937,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,669,447.35. This represents a 11.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,668 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total value of $223,340.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,635,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,764,339.68. The trade was a 2.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 158,076 shares of company stock valued at $853,804. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Ardelyx by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,141,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $83,657,000 after acquiring an additional 176,789 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 68.5% during the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 3,060,191 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $21,085,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243,606 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Ardelyx by 274.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 181,387 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 132,928 shares during the period. Vestal Point Capital LP purchased a new stake in Ardelyx in the third quarter worth approximately $3,445,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Ardelyx by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,144 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,667,000 after buying an additional 6,093 shares during the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ardelyx Company Profile

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.