Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Trading Down 4.9% on Insider Selling

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)’s stock price was down 4.9% during trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $5.97 and last traded at $5.98. Approximately 1,614,621 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 5,629,780 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.29.

Specifically, insider Robert Ora Felsch sold 207,988 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.81, for a total transaction of $1,832,374.28. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 95,947 shares in the company, valued at $845,293.07. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Ardelyx news, insider Robert Ora Felsch sold 207,988 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.81, for a total transaction of $1,832,374.28. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 95,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $845,293.07. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total value of $52,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,310,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,255,186.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 495,327 shares of company stock valued at $3,886,619. 5.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARDX has been the topic of a number of research reports. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Ardelyx from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $12.81.

Ardelyx Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $7.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.56. The company has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.25 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 4.36 and a current ratio of 4.53.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $46.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.40 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 41.36% and a negative return on equity of 41.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 303.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.13) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ARDX. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its holdings in Ardelyx by 1,183.6% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 549,695 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 506,872 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 4,012,753 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,879,000 after acquiring an additional 1,512,753 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 185.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,666,267 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,798,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082,554 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,565,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $47,188,000 after acquiring an additional 97,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in Ardelyx in the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,384,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ardelyx Company Profile

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.