Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Trading Down 3.5% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) fell 3.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $5.07 and last traded at $5.07. 287,901 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 4,306,771 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.25.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ARDX shares. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler raised shares of Ardelyx to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.95.

Ardelyx Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average is $5.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.53. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.34 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 4.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 11.73% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The business had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.16 million. As a group, analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.31, for a total transaction of $221,246.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David M. Mott purchased 199,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $4.99 per share, for a total transaction of $993,010.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,937,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,669,447.35. This represents a 11.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 158,076 shares of company stock worth $853,804. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARDX. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Ardelyx by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,387,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $123,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,858,061 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ardelyx by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $72,819,000 after acquiring an additional 767,111 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 176,789 shares during the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its position in Ardelyx by 11.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 746,067 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ardelyx by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,509,730 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,941,000 after buying an additional 21,988 shares during the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.