Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Trading Up 7.9% - Here's Why

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 7.9% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $6.22 and last traded at $6.25. Approximately 1,314,370 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 4,156,478 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARDX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Ardelyx to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $5.50 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $9.42.

Ardelyx Trading Down 10.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.07 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 3.87, a current ratio of 4.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $5.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.64.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 28.82% and a negative return on equity of 46.60%. On average, research analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, Director David M. Mott acquired 199,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $4.99 per share, for a total transaction of $993,010.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,937,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,669,447.35. This trade represents a 11.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total transaction of $223,329.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,108,719 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,942,733.84. This trade represents a 3.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 133,332 shares of company stock worth $710,576. 5.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Ardelyx by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,387,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $123,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,858,061 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $72,819,000 after buying an additional 767,111 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,141,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $83,657,000 after buying an additional 176,789 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 7,413,049 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $51,076,000 after buying an additional 746,067 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,509,730 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $27,941,000 after buying an additional 21,988 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company's stock.

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.