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

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $15.70.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ARDX. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Monday, April 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 29th.

Ardelyx Trading Up 5.3%

Shares of Ardelyx stock opened at $6.33 on Friday. Ardelyx has a 1 year low of $3.21 and a 1 year high of $8.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of -25.32 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $6.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 4.31 and a quick ratio of 4.11.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.02). Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 15.12% and a negative return on equity of 40.63%. The business had revenue of $94.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.17) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ardelyx will post 0.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Mike Kelliher sold 9,595 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total value of $56,130.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 364,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,133,296.10. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph James Reilly sold 4,991 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total value of $29,197.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 151,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $887,971.50. This trade represents a 3.18% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 128,604 shares of company stock worth $751,917 in the last quarter. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARDX. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 88.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,527,988 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $21,670,000 after buying an additional 2,600,080 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,369,321 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $101,215,000 after buying an additional 2,337,672 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,912,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,449,000 after buying an additional 2,193,649 shares in the last quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 1,034.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP now owns 1,622,736 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,461,000 after buying an additional 1,479,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AIGH Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 479.3% during the 4th quarter. AIGH Capital Management LLC now owns 1,150,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,704,000 after buying an additional 951,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.