Analysts Set Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Price Target at $10.95

Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $10.95.

A number of analysts have commented on ARDX shares. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Ardelyx to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $5.50 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $15.00 price objective on the stock.

Ardelyx Stock Up 2.3 %

ARDX opened at $5.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 4.58 and a quick ratio of 4.31. Ardelyx has a 12 month low of $4.32 and a 12 month high of $9.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $5.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.53. The stock has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.81 and a beta of 0.87.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02. The business had revenue of $116.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.16 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 11.73% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. As a group, research analysts predict that Ardelyx will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David M. Mott bought 199,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.99 per share, with a total value of $993,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,937,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,669,447.35. The trade was a 11.44 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total transaction of $223,329.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,108,719 shares in the company, valued at $5,942,733.84. This represents a 3.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 158,076 shares of company stock worth $853,804 in the last three months. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARDX. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its position in Ardelyx by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 73,950 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Ardelyx by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 90,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Ardelyx by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 154,625 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 3,550 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 463,100 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,348,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,486 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 4,933 shares in the last quarter. 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.