Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Trading Down 5.5% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Ardelyx's share price fell by 5.5% to $5.64, with trading volume down 77% from its average.
• Analysts have varying price targets for Ardelyx, with the consensus target price at $11.70 and ratings ranging from "strong-buy" to "hold."
• Recent insider trading included sales by Laura A. Williams and Elizabeth A. Grammer, with a total of 165,551 shares sold in the past ninety days.

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 5.5% on Friday . The company traded as low as $5.66 and last traded at $5.64. Approximately 1,041,398 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 4,525,185 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARDX has been the topic of several research reports. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $14.00 price objective (up from $13.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. UBS Group set a $12.00 price target on Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, HC Wainwright started coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $10.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ardelyx presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $11.70.

Ardelyx Stock Down 7.3%

The company has a quick ratio of 4.03, a current ratio of 4.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.11 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.68 and a 200 day moving average of $4.81.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 80,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.12, for a total value of $489,600.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 366,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,890.64. This trade represents a 17.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Elizabeth A. Grammer sold 5,841 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 $34,637.13. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 305,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,813,927.70. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 165,551 shares of company stock worth $996,917. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ARDX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Ardelyx by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,997,234 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $73,636,000 after buying an additional 634,575 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 34.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 11,250,652 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $44,103,000 after acquiring an additional 2,866,843 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Ardelyx by 118.2% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,465,262 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $31,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,501,782 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 88.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,527,988 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $21,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 1st quarter valued at $16,735,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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