Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $5.83, but opened at $6.17. Ardelyx shares last traded at $6.8450, with a volume of 3,676,803 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARDX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Ardelyx from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wedbush downgraded shares of Ardelyx from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.10.

Ardelyx Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.15 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.44. The company has a current ratio of 4.41, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.06. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 14.20% and a negative return on equity of 36.91%. The business had revenue of $110.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.44 million. Ardelyx’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In related news, CEO Michael Raab sold 46,887 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total transaction of $259,753.98. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,455,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,062,711.02. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Mike Kelliher sold 5,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.54, for a total transaction of $30,802.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 271,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,502,342.74. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 64,868 shares of company stock valued at $359,369 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. DCF Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Ardelyx during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 147.0% during the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 10,253 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 6,102 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter worth $61,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ardelyx Company Profile

Ardelyx, Inc (NASDAQ: ARDX) is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing targeted small molecule drugs for cardio‐renal and gastrointestinal diseases. The company’s lead marketed product, tenapanor (sold under the brand name XPHOZAH in the United States), is approved for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis. Ardelyx’s proprietary approach targets epithelial transporters in the gastrointestinal tract, offering localized activity with limited systemic exposure.

Beyond tenapanor, Ardelyx’s development pipeline includes treatments designed to address other complications in kidney disease and related metabolic disorders.