Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Coverage Initiated 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 assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) in a research note issued to investors 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 target price points to a potential upside of 118.24% from the stock's previous close.

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

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Ardelyx stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $6.42. 757,710 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,671,069. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.85 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 4.30 and a quick ratio of 4.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $4.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.69. Ardelyx has a 12 month low of $3.21 and a 12 month high of $7.18.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $2,241,890.64. This trade represents a 17.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David M. Mott acquired 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.63 per share, with a total value of $726,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,896,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,515,641.73. The trade was a 7.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 165,551 shares of company stock valued at $996,917 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 118.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,465,262 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $31,744,000 after acquiring an additional 3,501,782 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 1st quarter worth about $16,735,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 34.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 11,250,652 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $44,103,000 after acquiring an additional 2,866,843 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,387,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $123,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,858,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 88.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,527,988 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $21,670,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600,080 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company's stock.

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.

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