Insider Selling: Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) CFO Sells 7,037 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• CFO Justin Renz of Ardelyx, Inc. sold 7,037 shares of the company stock at an average price of $5.93, totaling approximately $41,729.
• Ardelyx reported a 23% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, reaching $97.66 million, with an EPS of ($0.08) for the latest quarter.
• Multiple brokerages have raised their price targets for Ardelyx, with Piper Sandler setting a new target at $9.00 and HC Wainwright establishing a "buy" rating with a target of $10.00.

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) CFO Justin Renz sold 7,037 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.93, for a total value of $41,729.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 409,052 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,425,678.36. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Ardelyx Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of ARDX stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $6.06. The company had a trading volume of 2,878,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,696,685. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 4.03 and a current ratio of 4.30. Ardelyx, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.21 and a twelve month high of $7.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.35 and a beta of 0.68. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $4.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.66.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 36.57% and a negative net margin of 14.60%.The business 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) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ARDX. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Ardelyx from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ardelyx from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. HC Wainwright began coverage on Ardelyx in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $10.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $12.00 price objective (up previously from $11.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $14.00 price objective (up previously from $13.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $11.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARDX. Millennium Management LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 1st quarter worth approximately $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 purchasing 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 purchasing 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 purchasing an additional 2,600,080 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.