Piper Sandler Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stock

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $7.00 to $8.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target indicates a potential upside of 41.22% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on ARDX. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.42.

Ardelyx Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ARDX traded up $0.15 on Monday, hitting $5.67. The company had a trading volume of 624,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,126,943. Ardelyx has a 1 year low of $4.32 and a 1 year high of $10.13. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.98 and a beta of 0.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.31, for a total transaction of $221,246.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,997,921.12. This represents a 3.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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, for a total transaction of $996,111.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,638,765 shares in the company, valued at $7,653,032.55. This trade represents 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 193,358 shares of company stock worth $1,041,766. 5.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,141,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $83,657,000 after acquiring an additional 176,789 shares in the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its position in Ardelyx by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 7,413,049 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $51,076,000 after purchasing an additional 746,067 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ardelyx by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,487,742 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,818,000 after purchasing an additional 17,296 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 142.8% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,203,090 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,735,000 after buying an additional 1,883,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 68.5% during the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 3,060,191 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $21,085,000 after buying an additional 1,243,606 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.