Analysts Set Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) PT at $9.93

Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Buy" from the nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $9.93.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ARDX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Ardelyx to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $13.00 target price (down previously from $15.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 21st. HC Wainwright reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $5.50 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ardelyx news, Director David M. Mott acquired 213,300 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.67 per share, with a total value of $996,111.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,638,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,653,032.55. This represents a 14.96 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.31, for a total value of $221,246.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,997,921.12. This represents a 3.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 490,029 shares of company stock valued at $2,377,766 and sold 141,408 shares valued at $761,963. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARDX. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,387,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $123,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,858,061 shares during the last quarter. Two Seas Capital LP bought a new position in Ardelyx during the 4th quarter worth $9,407,000. Rock Springs Capital Management LP bought a new position in Ardelyx during the 4th quarter worth $7,421,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 9,499.8% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,468,668 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $7,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,369 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at $6,762,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ardelyx Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of ARDX stock traded up $0.14 on Tuesday, reaching $5.36. 3,554,943 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,300,532. The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.50 and a beta of 0.85. Ardelyx has a 12-month low of $4.32 and a 12-month high of $9.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 4.58. The business's 50 day moving average price is $5.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.62.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 11.73% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The firm had revenue of $116.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.16 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ardelyx will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

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.