Michael Raab Sells 46,887 Shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) CEO Michael Raab sold 46,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total value of $259,753.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,455,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,062,711.02. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Ardelyx Trading Up 3.7%

Shares of ARDX stock opened at $5.93 on Thursday. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.21 and a 1-year high of $6.78. The company has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.78 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 4.30 and a quick ratio of 4.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.00.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.06. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.60% and a negative return on equity of 36.57%. The company had revenue of $110.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $100.44 million. The company’s revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARDX has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group set a $12.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.73.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARDX. DCF Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in Ardelyx by 147.0% during the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 10,253 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 6,102 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Ardelyx during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Ardelyx during the first quarter worth about $56,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.