Susan Hohenleitner Sells 2,033 Shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) CFO Susan Hohenleitner sold 2,033 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total value of $11,893.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 230,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,348,618.05. This trade represents a 0.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Ardelyx Stock Up 0.3%

ARDX stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $5.75. The company had a trading volume of 7,054,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,578,790. The company has a 50 day moving average of $6.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.13. The company has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.00 and a beta of 0.57. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1 year low of $3.21 and a 1 year high of $8.40. The company has a current ratio of 4.31, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $125.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.04 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 40.63% and a negative net margin of 15.12%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Monday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $15.09.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARDX. DCF Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Ardelyx during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. First Horizon Corp raised its stake in Ardelyx by 120.4% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 7,906 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 4,319 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 147.0% in the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 10,253 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 6,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.