Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.7273.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Leerink Partners reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. HC Wainwright upped their target price on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARDX opened at $6.05 on Monday. Ardelyx has a 1-year low of $3.49 and a 1-year high of $8.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $6.11 and a 200-day moving average of $6.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 3.49 and a quick ratio of 3.28. The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.30 and a beta of 0.58.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.02). Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 38.11% and a negative net margin of 13.58%.The company had revenue of $94.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.17) EPS. Ardelyx’s quarterly revenue was up 27.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ardelyx will post -0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eric Duane Foster sold 7,998 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total value of $50,147.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 417,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,620,684.44. This represents a 1.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Mike Kelliher sold 7,248 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 value of $45,444.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 357,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,241,010.86. This represents a 1.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $154,066 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Horizon Corp boosted its holdings in Ardelyx by 120.4% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 7,906 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 4,319 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Ardelyx in the third quarter valued at about $57,000. Krilogy Financial LLC purchased a new position in Ardelyx in the first quarter valued at about $70,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Ardelyx in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

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.