Aardvark Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AARD) Earns “Sector Perform” Rating from Royal Bank Of Canada

Aardvark Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AARD)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reissued by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a report released on Thursday, September 24th, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $6.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 13.85% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on AARD. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of Aardvark Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Aardvark Therapeutics from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aardvark Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.13.

Aardvark Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Aardvark Therapeutics stock opened at $5.27 on Thursday. Aardvark Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $3.35 and a 1 year high of $17.94. The company has a market capitalization of $115.31 million, a P/E ratio of -1.64 and a beta of 3.74. The company’s fifty day moving average is $6.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.27.

Aardvark Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AARD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $0.21. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aardvark Therapeutics will post -3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aardvark Therapeutics

In related news, insider Nelson Sun sold 62,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total value of $321,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 35,475 shares in the company, valued at $183,760.50. This trade represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 17.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aardvark Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Aardvark Therapeutics by 30.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 6,905 shares during the period. Susquehanna International Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Aardvark Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $138,000. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aardvark Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $221,000. J. Goldman & Co LP acquired a new stake in shares of Aardvark Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $233,000. Finally, Propel Bio Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aardvark Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $609,000.

About Aardvark Therapeutics

Aardvark Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing oral therapies for obesity, hyperphagia and related metabolic disorders. The company’s approach is based on activating bitter taste receptors, which it believes may influence appetite regulation and metabolic signaling without relying on injectable therapies.

Aardvark’s lead investigational product, ARD-101, is an oral small-molecule bitter taste receptor agonist being studied for conditions involving excessive hunger and food intake, including hyperphagia associated with Prader-Willi syndrome.