Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 24,060,000 shares, a growth of 5.1% from the October 15th total of 22,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,460,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.0 days.

Ardelyx Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of ARDX opened at $4.79 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.87, a current ratio of 4.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Ardelyx has a 52-week low of $4.06 and a 52-week high of $10.13. The company has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of -15.93 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5.92 and a 200 day moving average of $6.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.22, for a total transaction of $46,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,219,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,585,345.98. This trade represents a 0.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 49,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.92, for a total value of $342,982.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 301,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,089,466.32. This trade represents a 14.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 189,962 shares of company stock valued at $1,171,128 over the last 90 days. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 6.7% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 458,300 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,346,000 after buying an additional 28,900 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Ardelyx by 100.7% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 536,297 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,915,000 after purchasing an additional 269,046 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 8.9% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 57,729 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 4,735 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 2.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,391,855 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $97,761,000 after purchasing an additional 365,809 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the first quarter worth about $2,015,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ARDX. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. HC Wainwright lowered Ardelyx from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $11.00 to $5.50 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.42.

About Ardelyx

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.