Insider Selling: Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Insider Sells $18,597.15 in Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) insider John Bishop sold 3,179 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total value of $18,597.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 339,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,984,033.35. This trade represents a 0.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARDX opened at $6.56 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 4.31 and a quick ratio of 4.11. The company has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.24 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $6.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.14. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.21 and a 1-year high of $8.40.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.03). Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 15.12% and a negative return on equity of 40.63%. The company had revenue of $125.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.02 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup increased their target price on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 29th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $15.09.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ardelyx by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,979,483 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $110,650,000 after acquiring an additional 610,162 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,514,692 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $84,583,000 after purchasing an additional 690,599 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,912,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $69,449,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193,649 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 34.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 11,250,652 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $44,103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,866,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,827,618 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,981,000 after purchasing an additional 70,832 shares during the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ardelyx

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.