Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Price Target Raised to $14.00 at Wedbush

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) had its price target hoisted by Wedbush from $13.00 to $14.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on ARDX. Leerink Partnrs reissued an outperform rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, January 12th. SVB Leerink started coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. They set an outperform rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ardelyx from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $12.69.

Ardelyx Stock Down 2.4 %

ARDX opened at $6.55 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.57. Ardelyx has a 52 week low of $3.16 and a 52 week high of $10.13. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.83 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 4.64, a current ratio of 4.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $34.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.26 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 43.57% and a negative net margin of 53.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ardelyx will post -0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 15,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.18, for a total transaction of $140,857.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 384,002 shares in the company, valued at $3,525,138.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 15,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.18, for a total transaction of $140,857.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 384,002 shares in the company, valued at $3,525,138.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert Blanks sold 5,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.75, for a total value of $43,898.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 368,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,221,627.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,820 shares of company stock worth $1,208,524 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 235.9% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 4,026 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the first quarter worth about $44,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.