Insider Selling: Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) CFO Sells $29,061.02 in Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total value of $29,061.02. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 285,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,607,140.16. This represents a 1.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Ardelyx Stock Down 11.6 %

Shares of Ardelyx stock opened at $5.06 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.87, a current ratio of 4.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52-week low of $4.32 and a 52-week high of $9.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.59 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $5.30 and a 200 day moving average of $5.63.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $116.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.16 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 11.73% and a negative return on equity of 25.74%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on ARDX. Citigroup decreased their target price on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $13.00 target price (down from $15.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ardelyx presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.93.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Ardelyx by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,387,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $123,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,858,061 shares during the period. Two Seas Capital LP purchased a new stake in Ardelyx during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,407,000. Rock Springs Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Ardelyx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,421,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Ardelyx by 9,499.8% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,468,668 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,369 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,762,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.