Insider Buying: Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Director Buys 200,000 Shares of Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) Director David M. Mott purchased 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $3.63 per share, with a total value of $726,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,896,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,515,641.73. This represents a 7.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Ardelyx Stock Down 1.4%

ARDX traded down $0.05 on Friday, hitting $3.56. 3,483,916 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,531,595. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.21 and a 12 month high of $8.06. The company has a market cap of $851.77 million, a PE ratio of -16.18 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a current ratio of 4.12. The stock's fifty day moving average is $4.10 and its 200-day moving average is $4.83.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $74.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.40 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 34.45% and a negative net margin of 14.86%. The business's revenue was up 61.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.11) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ARDX shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Ardelyx to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler upgraded Ardelyx to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Ardelyx from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.89.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Ardelyx by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $72,819,000 after purchasing an additional 767,111 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 206.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 593,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,010,000 after buying an additional 400,100 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,035,135 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $10,318,000 after buying an additional 96,357 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 578,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,932,000 after buying an additional 142,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 326,124 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,653,000 after buying an additional 6,070 shares during the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ardelyx

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.