Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 10,002 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 250% compared to the average daily volume of 2,854 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider James Brady sold 15,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.86, for a total value of $58,424.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 245,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $949,289.80. This trade represents a 5.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric Foster sold 8,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.86, for a total transaction of $33,049.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 409,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,580,322.60. The trade was a 2.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 126,059 shares of company stock worth $486,588. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARDX. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ardelyx by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,570 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 3,253 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 23,724 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 5,476 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Ardelyx by 1.2% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 480,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,880,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 7.0% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 100,550 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 6,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in Ardelyx during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ ARDX traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $3.31. 1,069,518 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,251,790. The firm has a market cap of $826.06 million, a PE ratio of -15.07 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 3.34 and a quick ratio of 3.15. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.14. Ardelyx has a 52-week low of $3.22 and a 52-week high of $8.40.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $120.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.03 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 36.00% and a negative net margin of 12.35%.Ardelyx’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.08) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ardelyx will post -0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ARDX. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, August 7th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, BTIG Research decreased their price target on Ardelyx from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.90.

About Ardelyx

Ardelyx, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for gastrointestinal and cardiorenal conditions. The company’s products are designed to act locally in the gastrointestinal tract to address diseases involving phosphate, sodium, and other electrolytes.

Ardelyx’s primary products include XPHOZAH (tenapanor), an oral treatment approved in the United States to reduce intestinal phosphate absorption in adults with chronic kidney disease on dialysis who have hyperphosphatemia, and IBSRELA (tenapanor), an oral therapy approved for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation in adults.