Royal Bank Of Canada Reaffirms Sector Perform Rating for Aardvark Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AARD)

Aardvark Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AARD)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating restated by stock analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $6.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 8.52% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aardvark Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Aardvark Therapeutics from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Aardvark Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, July 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.33.

Aardvark Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AARD opened at $5.53 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.28. Aardvark Therapeutics has a one year low of $3.35 and a one year high of $17.94. The firm has a market cap of $121.00 million, a P/E ratio of -1.71 and a beta of 3.74.

Aardvark Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AARD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.87) by $0.21. On average, research analysts predict that Aardvark Therapeutics will post -3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nelson Sun sold 62,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $321,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 35,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $183,760.50. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 17.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aardvark Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AARD. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Aardvark Therapeutics by 30.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 6,905 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Aardvark Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $138,000. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aardvark Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $221,000. J. Goldman & Co LP acquired a new stake in shares of Aardvark Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $233,000. Finally, Propel Bio Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aardvark Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $609,000.

About Aardvark Therapeutics

Aardvark Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing oral therapies for obesity, hyperphagia and related metabolic disorders. The company’s approach is based on activating bitter taste receptors, which it believes may influence appetite regulation and metabolic signaling without relying on injectable therapies.

Aardvark’s lead investigational product, ARD-101, is an oral small-molecule bitter taste receptor agonist being studied for conditions involving excessive hunger and food intake, including hyperphagia associated with Prader-Willi syndrome.