Insider Selling: Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Insider Sells $33,049.32 in Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) insider Eric Duane Foster sold 8,562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.86, for a total transaction of $33,049.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 409,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,580,322.60. The trade was a 2.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of ARDX opened at $3.82 on Friday. Ardelyx, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.72 and a twelve month high of $8.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $4.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.70. The firm has a market cap of $951.91 million, a PE ratio of -17.36 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a current ratio of 3.34.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.02). Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 36.00% and a negative net margin of 12.35%.The firm had revenue of $120.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Ardelyx’s quarterly revenue was up 34.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARDX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the second quarter valued at approximately $119,874,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,043,000. AIGH Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the second quarter valued at approximately $16,320,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 88.8% during 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 period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,912,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $69,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193,649 shares during the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Ardelyx from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research cut Ardelyx from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.90.

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.