Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $9.00 to $10.00. The stock had previously closed at $5.01, but opened at $6.43. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ardelyx shares last traded at $6.5220, with a volume of 7,136,569 shares trading hands.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on ARDX. Wall Street Zen raised Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $14.00 target price (up previously from $13.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday. UBS Group set a $12.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ardelyx news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 80,000 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.12, for a total value of $489,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 366,322 shares in the company, valued at $2,241,890.64. The trade was a 17.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Elizabeth A. Grammer sold 5,841 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.93, for a total value of $34,637.13. Following the transaction, the insider owned 305,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,813,927.70. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 165,551 shares of company stock worth $996,917. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 79.6% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 233,248 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $914,000 after buying an additional 103,385 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 188.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,573,063 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,724,000 after buying an additional 1,027,814 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 118.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,465,262 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,744,000 after buying an additional 3,501,782 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $673,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 52.8% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 682,231 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,350,000 after buying an additional 235,804 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Stock Up 21.0%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $5.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.86. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.35 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 4.30, a quick ratio of 4.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $110.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.44 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.60% and a negative return on equity of 36.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.