Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) CEO Sells $188,838.50 in Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) CEO Michael Raab sold 32,225 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.86, for a total transaction of $188,838.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,227,009 shares in the company, valued at $7,190,272.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Michael Raab also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 12th, Michael Raab sold 1,229 shares of Ardelyx stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.71, for a total value of $7,017.59.
• On Monday, July 29th, Michael Raab sold 30,000 shares of Ardelyx stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.64, for a total value of $169,200.00.
• On Monday, July 15th, Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of Ardelyx stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.97, for a total value of $44,775.00.
• On Friday, June 28th, Michael Raab sold 2,310 shares of Ardelyx stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.59, for a total value of $15,222.90.
• On Thursday, June 13th, Michael Raab sold 35,000 shares of Ardelyx stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.65, for a total transaction of $232,750.00.
• On Wednesday, May 29th, Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of Ardelyx stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.72, for a total transaction of $50,400.00.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARDX opened at $6.05 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $5.87 and a 200 day moving average of $7.13. The company has a quick ratio of 4.36, a current ratio of 4.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.61 and a beta of 0.83. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52 week low of $3.16 and a 52 week high of $10.13.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $73.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.03 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 38.41% and a negative net margin of 31.02%. The business’s revenue was up 228.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.08) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ARDX. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, June 20th. HC Wainwright upped their target price on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded Ardelyx from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $15.00 to $7.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.43.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James & Associates bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at about $98,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 152,389 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 12,208 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new position in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter worth $74,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 30,269 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 64.8% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 58,011 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 22,816 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.