Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.90.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ARDX. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ardelyx from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research cut shares of Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen cut 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. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th.

Insider Activity

In other Ardelyx news, insider Eric Foster sold 8,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.86, for a total transaction of $33,049.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 409,410 shares in the company, valued at $1,580,322.60. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John E. Bishop sold 19,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.86, for a total value of $76,235.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 317,095 shares in the company, valued at $1,223,986.70. This trade represents a 5.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 126,059 shares of company stock valued at $486,588. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARDX. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in Ardelyx in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. SCS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the second quarter valued at about $52,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the second quarter valued at about $56,000. Krilogy Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 1st quarter valued at about $70,000. Finally, PVG Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 1st quarter valued at about $65,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Ardelyx stock opened at $3.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a current ratio of 3.34. The company has a market capitalization of $941.94 million, a PE ratio of -17.18 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.57. Ardelyx has a fifty-two week low of $3.68 and a fifty-two week high of $8.40.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.03 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 36.00% and a negative net margin of 12.35%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ardelyx will post -0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

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.