Insider Selling: Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) CEO Sells $191,013.36 in Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) CEO Michael Raab sold 46,817 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.08, for a total value of $191,013.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,547,937 shares in the company, valued at $6,315,582.96. This trade represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Michael Raab also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 2nd, Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of Ardelyx stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.25, for a total value of $177,080.50.
• On Friday, April 4th, Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of Ardelyx stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.59, for a total value of $191,246.94.
• On Friday, March 7th, Michael Raab sold 41,668 shares of Ardelyx stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total value of $223,340.48.

Ardelyx Trading Up 0.3%

Ardelyx stock opened at $3.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 4.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52 week low of $3.21 and a 52 week high of $8.06. The company has a market capitalization of $949.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.81 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $4.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.03.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.17) EPS 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 firm had revenue of $74.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.40 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.11) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 61.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in Ardelyx in the first quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ardelyx by 10.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,378,738 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,680,000 after acquiring an additional 221,486 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Ardelyx in the first quarter valued at approximately $673,000. Two Seas Capital LP lifted its holdings in Ardelyx by 14.3% in the first quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 2,120,337 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,411,000 after acquiring an additional 265,000 shares during the period. Finally, Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Ardelyx by 17.9% in the first quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC now owns 209,581 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 31,787 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ARDX. BTIG Research began coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, February 21st. Raymond James downgraded 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. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.39.

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.