Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) CEO Michael Raab Sells 41,666 Shares

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.84, for a total transaction of $243,329.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,816,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,608,056.32. This trade represents a 2.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Michael Raab also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, February 20th, Michael Raab sold 45,982 shares of Ardelyx stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total transaction of $268,994.70.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

NASDAQ ARDX opened at $5.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of -22.20 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a current ratio of 4.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $6.87 and a 200-day moving average of $6.15. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52-week low of $3.21 and a 52-week high of $8.40.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $125.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.04 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 15.12% and a negative return on equity of 40.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ARDX. Piper Sandler raised Ardelyx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $16.00 in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Monday, February 23rd. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.70.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 2.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 159,061 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 4,436 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Ardelyx by 10.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,378,738 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,680,000 after buying an additional 221,486 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in Ardelyx during the first quarter worth about $72,000. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Ardelyx in the 1st quarter valued at about $135,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in Ardelyx by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 39,386 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 2,610 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ardelyx

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.