Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Given “Buy” Rating at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH

LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated their buy rating on shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) in a report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH currently has a $11.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on 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 restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Ardelyx from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.95.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARDX opened at $5.30 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of -33.13 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.60. Ardelyx has a fifty-two week low of $4.32 and a fifty-two week high of $9.33.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. The firm had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.16 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ardelyx will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David M. Mott purchased 213,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were purchased 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 approximately $7,653,032.55. The trade was a 14.96 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,668 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total value of $223,340.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,635,138 shares in the company, valued at $8,764,339.68. This represents a 2.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 490,029 shares of company stock worth $2,377,766 and sold 183,076 shares worth $985,304. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ardelyx during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Ardelyx during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Ardelyx during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group acquired a new position in Ardelyx during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.