Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Rating Increased to Hold at Piper Sandler

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) was upgraded by investment analysts at Piper Sandler to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently commented on ARDX. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, March 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $13.00 price objective (down from $15.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ardelyx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.95.

Ardelyx Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Ardelyx stock opened at $5.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of -33.88 and a beta of 0.87. Ardelyx has a 52 week low of $4.32 and a 52 week high of $9.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 4.58.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 11.73% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The business had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.16 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ardelyx will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total transaction of $29,061.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 285,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,607,140.16. This trade represents a 1.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David M. Mott bought 213,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.67 per share, with a total value of $996,111.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,638,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,653,032.55. The trade was a 14.96 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 490,029 shares of company stock valued at $2,377,766 and sold 158,076 shares valued at $853,804. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARDX. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 13.3% during 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 buying an additional 2,858,061 shares during the last quarter. Two Seas Capital LP bought a new position in Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,407,000. Rock Springs Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Ardelyx during the 4th quarter valued at $7,421,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 9,499.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,453,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the fourth quarter worth $6,762,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.