Eric Duane Foster Sells 8,562 Shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) insider Eric Duane Foster sold 8,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.86, for a total transaction of $33,049.32. Following the sale, the insider owned 409,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,580,322.60. The trade was a 2.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Ardelyx Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:ARDX traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $3.78. The company had a trading volume of 3,418,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,069,888. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.72 and a 12 month high of $8.40. The company has a current ratio of 3.34, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market cap of $941.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.18 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.75.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.02). Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 36.00% and a negative net margin of 12.35%.The company had revenue of $120.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.03 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.2 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARDX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. BTIG Research lowered their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ardelyx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.90.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the second quarter worth $119,874,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,979,483 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $110,650,000 after purchasing an additional 610,162 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 5.0% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,912,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,449,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193,649 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

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.