Aardvark Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AARD) Receives “Sector Perform” Rating from Royal Bank Of Canada

Aardvark Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AARD)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $6.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 8.52% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on AARD. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Aardvark Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Wall Street Zen raised Aardvark Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Aardvark Therapeutics from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.33.

Aardvark Therapeutics Trading Down 3.8%

NASDAQ:AARD opened at $5.53 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $121.00 million, a P/E ratio of -1.71 and a beta of 3.74. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.28. Aardvark Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $3.35 and a 12-month high of $17.94.

Aardvark Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AARD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.87) by $0.21. Research analysts forecast that Aardvark Therapeutics will post -3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nelson Sun sold 62,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $321,160.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 35,475 shares in the company, valued at $183,760.50. This trade represents a 63.61% 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. Insiders own 17.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aardvark Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Aardvark Therapeutics by 30.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 6,905 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP purchased a new position in Aardvark Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $138,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aardvark Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $221,000. J. Goldman & Co LP acquired a new position in shares of Aardvark Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $233,000. Finally, Propel Bio Management LLC purchased a new position in Aardvark Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $609,000.

Aardvark Therapeutics Company Profile

Aardvark Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing oral therapies for obesity, hyperphagia and related metabolic disorders. The company’s approach is based on activating bitter taste receptors, which it believes may influence appetite regulation and metabolic signaling without relying on injectable therapies.

Aardvark’s lead investigational product, ARD-101, is an oral small-molecule bitter taste receptor agonist being studied for conditions involving excessive hunger and food intake, including hyperphagia associated with Prader-Willi syndrome.