Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Raymond James Financial

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial has initiated coverage on Ardelyx, setting a "strong-buy" rating and a target price of $14.00, indicating a potential upside of 118.24% from its last closing price.
• Ardelyx reported quarterly earnings of ($0.08) per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and achieved a revenue of $97.66 million, up 23.0% year-over-year, compared to estimates of $82.69 million.
• Insider trading activity includes a significant sale by Laura A. Williams of 80,000 shares, representing a 17.92% decrease in ownership, while Director David M. Mott increased his holdings by acquiring 200,000 shares.

Research analysts at Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday. The brokerage set a "strong-buy" rating and a $14.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. Raymond James Financial's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 111.32% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $10.00 target price for the company. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $14.00 target price (up from $13.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. UBS Group set a $12.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ardelyx from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $11.70.

Ardelyx Price Performance

ARDX traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $6.63. 1,233,833 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,655,640. The company has a current ratio of 4.30, a quick ratio of 4.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.59 and a beta of 0.73. Ardelyx has a 52-week low of $3.21 and a 52-week high of $7.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.69.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $97.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $82.69 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.60% and a negative return on equity of 36.57%. The company's revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.07) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ardelyx will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In related news, CEO Michael Raab sold 45,687 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.93, for a total value of $270,923.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,502,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,908,342.50. The trade was a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura A. Williams sold 80,000 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.12, for a total transaction of $489,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 366,322 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,241,890.64. This trade represents a 17.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 165,551 shares of company stock valued at $996,917. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARDX. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Ardelyx by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 73,950 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in Ardelyx by 7.1% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 39,386 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 2,610 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Ardelyx by 8.9% in the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 40,023 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 3,255 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Ardelyx by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 154,625 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 3,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Ardelyx by 28.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 16,854 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 3,709 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.