Eric Duane Foster Sells 15,308 Shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stock

Key Points

• Eric Duane Foster, an insider at Ardelyx, Inc., sold 15,308 shares of stock at an average price of $5.93, decreasing his ownership position by 4.83% to a total of 301,498 shares valued at approximately $1.79 million.
• Ardelyx recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of ($0.08), surpassing analysts' estimates, while revenue grew by 23% year-over-year to $97.66 million.
• Analysts have set varied price targets for Ardelyx, with UBS Group targeting $12.00, while Piper Sandler and Wedbush have set targets of $9.00 and $14.00 respectively, contributing to a consensus price target of $11.50.

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) insider Eric Duane Foster sold 15,308 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.93, for a total transaction of $90,776.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 301,498 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,883.14. This represents a 4.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Ardelyx Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Ardelyx stock traded down $0.05 on Monday, hitting $6.06. The stock had a trading volume of 2,878,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,696,685. The company has a quick ratio of 4.03, a current ratio of 4.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Ardelyx, Inc. has a one year low of $3.21 and a one year high of $7.18. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.35 and a beta of 0.68. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $4.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.66.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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 quarterly revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.07) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ARDX. UBS Group set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective 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. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $14.00 price objective (up from $13.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ardelyx from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $11.50.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 124,945 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 10,514 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Ardelyx in the 4th quarter worth about $930,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Ardelyx in the 4th quarter worth about $582,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 135,156 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 10,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 1,376.4% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 50,317 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 46,909 shares in the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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