Citigroup Cuts Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Price Target to $11.00

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) had its price target trimmed by Citigroup from $14.00 to $11.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on ARDX. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, August 7th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, BTIG Research cut their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.00.

Ardelyx Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:ARDX opened at $3.97 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.28, a current ratio of 3.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Ardelyx has a 12-month low of $3.89 and a 12-month high of $8.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $989.28 million, a P/E ratio of -18.05 and a beta of 0.70.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.02). Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 12.35% and a negative return on equity of 35.57%. The company had revenue of $120.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Ardelyx will post -0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eric Duane Foster sold 7,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 417,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,620,684.44. The trade was a 1.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mike Kelliher sold 7,248 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 357,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,241,010.86. The trade was a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $154,066 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the second quarter worth $119,874,000. AIGH Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the second quarter worth $16,320,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Ardelyx by 88.8% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,912,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $69,449,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193,649 shares during the period. Finally, Rubric Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Ardelyx in the 1st quarter worth $11,147,000. Institutional investors 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.