Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $5.83, but opened at $6.17. Ardelyx shares last traded at $6.8450, with a volume of 3,676,803 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ARDX shares. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Ardelyx from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wedbush downgraded shares of Ardelyx from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ardelyx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.10.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a current ratio of 4.41. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of -29.15 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.44.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $110.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.44 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.20% and a negative return on equity of 36.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 46,887 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total value of $259,753.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,455,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,062,711.02. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mike Kelliher sold 5,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total value of $30,802.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 271,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,502,342.74. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 64,868 shares of company stock valued at $359,369 over the last ninety days. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 188.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,573,063 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027,814 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ardelyx by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 159,061 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $781,000 after buying an additional 4,436 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Ardelyx by 118.2% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,465,262 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,744,000 after acquiring an additional 3,501,782 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Ardelyx in the first quarter worth about $673,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 10.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,378,738 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,680,000 after acquiring an additional 221,486 shares during the period. 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.