Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Receives $10.89 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Key Points

• Ardelyx, Inc. has received an average analyst recommendation of "Buy" from ten research firms, with a consensus 12-month price target of $10.89.
• Despite an increase in revenue of 61.1% year-over-year, Ardelyx reported a quarterly loss with an EPS of (0.17), missing estimates.
• Recent insider activity includes the CFO selling 7,218 shares, while a director increased their stake by purchasing 381,377 shares of the company’s stock.

Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $10.89.

A number of analysts have commented on ARDX shares. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Ardelyx from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $11.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. HC Wainwright started coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $10.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ardelyx from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th.

Ardelyx Trading Up 1.5%

ARDX stock traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $4.36. 1,344,419 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,756,790. The company has a current ratio of 4.12, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Ardelyx has a 52-week low of $3.21 and a 52-week high of $7.18. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.80 and a beta of 0.60. The stock's fifty day moving average is $4.02 and its 200-day moving average is $4.67.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.07). Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.86% and a negative return on equity of 34.45%. The firm had revenue of $74.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $79.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.11) earnings per share. Ardelyx's quarterly revenue was up 61.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ardelyx will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, insider Mike Kelliher sold 14,522 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.08, for a total transaction of $59,249.76. Following the transaction, the insider owned 282,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,151,204.64. This trade represents a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 6,421 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.08, for a total value of $26,197.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 402,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,642,538.64. This trade represents a 1.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 881,377 shares of company stock valued at $3,402,411 and have sold 125,143 shares valued at $517,667. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $72,819,000 after acquiring an additional 767,111 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 400,100 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 203.1% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 166,343 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 111,457 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 578,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,932,000 after buying an additional 142,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,858,061 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company's stock.

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.