Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Ardelyx Call Options (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders acquired 3,598 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 128% compared to the typical volume of 1,576 call options.

Ardelyx Trading Up 14.6%

Shares of Ardelyx stock traded up $1.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $8.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,736,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,629,519. The company has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of -34.81 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 4.11, a current ratio of 4.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Ardelyx has a 1-year low of $3.21 and a 1-year high of $7.82. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5.85 and a 200 day moving average of $5.45.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $110.33 million during 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 revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ardelyx will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on ARDX shares. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush cut Ardelyx from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.50.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other news, insider Elizabeth A. Grammer sold 5,995 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total value of $33,212.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 299,895 shares in the company, valued at $1,661,418.30. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 46,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total transaction of $259,753.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,455,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,062,711.02. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 64,868 shares of company stock worth $359,369 over the last three months. 4.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 14.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,369,321 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $101,215,000 after buying an additional 2,337,672 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 34.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 11,250,652 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $44,103,000 after buying an additional 2,866,843 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Ardelyx by 118.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,465,262 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,501,782 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in 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. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,490,848 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,725,000 after purchasing an additional 469,385 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Company Profile

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.