Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Insider Laura Williams Sells 10,739 Shares of Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) insider Laura Williams sold 10,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.86, for a total transaction of $41,452.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 367,456 shares in the company, valued at $1,418,380.16. This represents a 2.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of Ardelyx stock traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $3.78. 3,418,138 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,069,888. The company has a market cap of $941.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.18 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 3.34, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.75. Ardelyx, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3.72 and a fifty-two week high of $8.40.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $120.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.03 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 12.35% and a negative return on equity of 36.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.08) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Knott David M Jr bought a new stake in Ardelyx during the 1st quarter worth about $1,240,000. AIGH Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Ardelyx during the 2nd quarter valued at about $16,320,000. Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 1st quarter valued at about $11,147,000. Clay Northam Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,704,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,979,483 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $110,650,000 after purchasing an additional 610,162 shares during the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ARDX. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Ardelyx from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Ardelyx from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Zacks Research downgraded Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research reduced their price objective on Ardelyx from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.90.

About Ardelyx

Ardelyx, Inc (NASDAQ: ARDX) is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing targeted small molecule drugs for cardio‐renal and gastrointestinal diseases. The company’s lead marketed product, tenapanor (sold under the brand name XPHOZAH in the United States), is approved for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis. Ardelyx’s proprietary approach targets epithelial transporters in the gastrointestinal tract, offering localized activity with limited systemic exposure.

Beyond tenapanor, Ardelyx’s development pipeline includes treatments designed to address other complications in kidney disease and related metabolic disorders.