Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Director Buys $738,000.00 in Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Director David M. Mott bought 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.69 per share, for a total transaction of $738,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,696,871 shares in the company, valued at $9,951,453.99. This represents a 8.01% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Ardelyx Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of NASDAQ ARDX opened at $3.60 on Friday. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.21 and a 1-year high of $8.06. The company has a market cap of $861.32 million, a PE ratio of -22.50 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 4.58, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a 50-day moving average of $4.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.90.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.07). Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. The company had revenue of $74.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.11) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 61.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $5.50 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.39.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 118.2% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,465,262 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,501,782 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the first quarter valued at approximately $16,735,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,387,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $123,587,000 after buying an additional 2,858,061 shares during the period. Two Seas Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,407,000. Finally, Rock Springs Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,421,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ardelyx

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.