Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stock Price

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) had its price objective reduced by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from $16.00 to $15.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 269.00% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ardelyx from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.90.

Ardelyx Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ ARDX traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $4.07. 811,871 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,292,062. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.48 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 3.34 and a quick ratio of 3.15. Ardelyx has a one year low of $3.86 and a one year high of $8.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.93.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.02). Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 12.35% and a negative return on equity of 36.00%. The firm had revenue of $120.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.03 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 34.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Ardelyx will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, insider Mike Kelliher sold 7,248 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total value of $45,444.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 357,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,010.86. This represents a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric Duane Foster sold 7,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.27, for a total value of $50,147.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 417,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,620,684.44. This trade represents a 1.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,572 shares of company stock worth $154,066. Corporate insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in Ardelyx during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. First Horizon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 120.4% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 7,906 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 4,319 shares in the last quarter. SCS Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the second quarter valued at $52,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the second quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Company Profile

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.