Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Trading Down 3.8% – Here’s What Happened

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) was down 3.8% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $4.99 and last traded at $5.05. Approximately 1,903,364 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 4,875,531 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARDX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $5.50 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.42.

Ardelyx Stock Down 3.4 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.75. The company has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.90 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 4.03, a quick ratio of 3.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael Raab sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.26, for a total value of $131,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,150,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,051,025.10. This trade represents a 2.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Mott purchased 213,300 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $4.67 per share, with a total value of $996,111.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,638,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,653,032.55. The trade was a 14.96 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 184,192 shares of company stock worth $1,013,345. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Ardelyx by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,141,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $83,657,000 after buying an additional 176,789 shares during the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 11.2% in the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 7,413,049 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $51,076,000 after acquiring an additional 746,067 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ardelyx by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,487,742 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $37,818,000 after acquiring an additional 17,296 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 142.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,203,090 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883,995 shares during the period. Finally, Rubric Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 68.5% in the 3rd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 3,060,191 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $21,085,000 after acquiring an additional 1,243,606 shares during the period. 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.