Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Ardelyx has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with 8 buy ratings, 1 strong buy, and 1 sell among 10 covering firms. The average 12-month price target is $15.70.
• The stock was up 3.0% and opened at $6.27, while recent brokerage updates included higher price targets from firms like BTIG and HC Wainwright. However, Weiss Ratings maintained a sell stance.
• In its latest earnings report, Ardelyx posted revenue of $94.47 million, above estimates and up 27.5% year over year, but EPS of -$0.15 missed expectations. The company remains unprofitable, though its lead drug XPHOZAH continues to anchor its business.

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.70.

Several brokerages recently commented on ARDX. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Monday, April 20th. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Leerink Partners reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, March 12th.

Ardelyx Stock Up 3.0%

Ardelyx stock opened at $6.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.26 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.28. Ardelyx has a 12 month low of $3.49 and a 12 month high of $8.40. The company has a current ratio of 3.49, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.02). Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 38.11% and a negative net margin of 13.58%.The business had revenue of $94.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.17) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 27.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Ardelyx will post -0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric Duane Foster sold 10,439 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total value of $61,068.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 425,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,491,924.50. The trade was a 2.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 8,176 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total value of $47,829.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 436,082 shares in the company, valued at $2,551,079.70. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 128,604 shares of company stock valued at $751,917 over the last ninety days. 5.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ardelyx by 14.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,369,321 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $101,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,337,672 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in Ardelyx by 488.0% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 306,547 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,689,000 after purchasing an additional 254,417 shares in the last quarter. AIGH Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ardelyx by 479.3% during the fourth quarter. AIGH Capital Management LLC now owns 1,150,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $6,704,000 after purchasing an additional 951,500 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Ardelyx by 514.6% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 131,925 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $727,000 after purchasing an additional 110,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in Ardelyx during the third quarter valued at $688,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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