Joseph James Reilly Sells 3,719 Shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) insider Joseph James Reilly sold 3,719 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total transaction of $23,318.13. Following the sale, the insider owned 149,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $934,900.89. This trade represents a 2.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Ardelyx Trading Down 3.8%

ARDX opened at $6.11 on Friday. Ardelyx, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.49 and a twelve month high of $8.40. The company has a quick ratio of 3.28, a current ratio of 3.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $6.08 and a 200-day moving average of $6.29. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of -26.56 and a beta of 0.62.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $94.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.78 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 38.11% and a negative net margin of 13.58%.The firm’s revenue was up 27.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.17) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.05 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARDX. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,600,080 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 14.6% in 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. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,912,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,449,000 after buying an additional 2,193,649 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the first quarter valued at $11,147,000. Finally, J. Goldman & Co LP lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 1,034.8% in the fourth quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP now owns 1,622,736 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,461,000 after buying an additional 1,479,736 shares in the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ARDX shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Williams Trading set a $17.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Leerink Partners reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.70.

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.