Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Shares Down 7.8% – Here’s Why

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) shares dropped 7.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $5.11 and last traded at $5.1150. 899,120 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 4,280,792 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARDX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Leerink Partners reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ardelyx from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Monday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Williams Trading set a $17.00 target price on Ardelyx in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.73.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

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 firm has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.17 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $6.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.29.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $94.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.17) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In related news, insider Mike Kelliher sold 7,248 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total value of $45,444.96. Following the sale, the insider owned 357,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,241,010.86. The trade was a 1.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric Duane Foster sold 7,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total value of $50,147.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 417,972 shares in the company, valued at $2,620,684.44. This trade represents a 1.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $154,066 in the last 90 days. 5.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARDX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ardelyx by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,979,483 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $110,650,000 after purchasing an additional 610,162 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,514,692 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $84,583,000 after buying an additional 690,599 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,912,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193,649 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,827,618 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,981,000 after acquiring an additional 70,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 88.8% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,527,988 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $21,670,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600,080 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.