Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Insider Robert Blanks Sells 38,000 Shares

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) insider Robert Blanks sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total transaction of $226,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 324,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,933,012.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of ARDX opened at $6.11 on Thursday. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12-month low of $3.16 and a 12-month high of $10.13. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.82 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 4.53, a quick ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $6.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.61.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARDX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. SVB Leerink began coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, April 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, May 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $12.81.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Ardelyx by 1,183.6% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 549,695 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 506,872 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 4,012,753 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $24,879,000 after buying an additional 1,512,753 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $6,798,000 after buying an additional 1,082,554 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Ardelyx by 0.9% during the third 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. purchased a new stake in Ardelyx in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,384,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

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.