Wedbush Raises Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Price Target to $14.00

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) had its target price increased by Wedbush from $13.00 to $14.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for Ardelyx’s Q1 2024 earnings at ($0.12) EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at ($0.09) EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at ($0.08) EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at ($0.04) EPS, FY2024 earnings at ($0.33) EPS and FY2027 earnings at $1.29 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Ardelyx from $9.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. SVB Leerink started coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. They issued an outperform rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $12.69.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of ARDX stock opened at $6.48 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.60 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50 day moving average is $8.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.59. The company has a current ratio of 4.88, a quick ratio of 4.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Ardelyx has a 12-month low of $3.16 and a 12-month high of $10.13.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.03). Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 43.57% and a negative net margin of 53.08%. The business had revenue of $34.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.06 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ardelyx will post -0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total transaction of $52,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,310,933 shares in the company, valued at $9,255,186.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 15,344 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.18, for a total transaction of $140,857.92. Following the sale, the insider now owns 384,002 shares in the company, valued at $3,525,138.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total value of $52,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,310,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,255,186.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,820 shares of company stock worth $1,208,524 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 235.9% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 4,026 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Ardelyx in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Ardelyx in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Company Profile

Ardelyx, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines to treat gastrointestinal and cardiorenal therapeutic areas in the United States and internationally. The company's lead product candidate is tenapanor for the treatment of patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation.