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

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.80.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ARDX shares. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $16.00 in a report on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, October 31st.

Ardelyx Price Performance

ARDX stock opened at $7.76 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.74 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 4.11, a current ratio of 4.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Ardelyx has a 52-week low of $3.21 and a 52-week high of $8.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.66.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.06. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 36.91% and a negative net margin of 14.20%.The firm had revenue of $110.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.44 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Ardelyx will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other news, insider Mike Kelliher sold 5,560 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total value of $30,802.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 271,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,502,342.74. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.98, for a total value of $349,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 361,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,523,709.74. The trade was a 12.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 114,868 shares of company stock worth $708,369 over the last ninety days. 4.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARDX. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 53.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 153,825 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $897,000 after acquiring an additional 53,717 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 959,540 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,594,000 after purchasing an additional 179,192 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Ardelyx by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 171,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 39,655 shares during the period. GK Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the fourth quarter worth about $435,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the third quarter worth about $688,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

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.