Eric Duane Foster Sells 7,998 Shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) insider Eric Duane Foster sold 7,998 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total transaction of $50,147.46. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 417,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,620,684.44. This trade represents a 1.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Ardelyx Stock Down 3.8%

ARDX opened at $6.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.29. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52 week low of $3.49 and a 52 week high of $8.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of -26.56 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 3.28, a current ratio of 3.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.02). Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 13.58% and a negative return on equity of 38.11%. The company had revenue of $94.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.78 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.17) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Horizon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 120.4% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 7,906 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 4,319 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 147.0% in the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 10,253 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 6,102 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter valued at about $61,000. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on ARDX shares. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Monday, February 23rd. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Williams Trading set a $17.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ardelyx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.70.

Ardelyx Company Profile

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.