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

Aardvark Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AARD)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $6.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective points to a potential upside of 11.98% from the stock’s current price.

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

Aardvark Therapeutics Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of AARD traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $5.36. 46,253 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 235,315. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $6.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.28. The company has a market cap of $117.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.70 and a beta of 3.74. Aardvark Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $3.35 and a 1 year high of $17.94.

Aardvark Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AARD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.87) by $0.21. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aardvark Therapeutics will post -3.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Aardvark Therapeutics

In other Aardvark Therapeutics news, insider Nelson Sun sold 62,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $321,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 35,475 shares in the company, valued at $183,760.50. This represents a 63.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 17.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Susquehanna International Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Aardvark Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $138,000. J. Goldman & Co LP purchased a new position in shares of Aardvark Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $233,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aardvark Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $221,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aardvark Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $1,077,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aardvark Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $267,000.

Aardvark Therapeutics News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Aardvark Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed its “sector perform” rating and assigned a $6.00 price target, implying approximately 8% potential upside from the recently cited $5.55 share price. The target suggests RBC sees some recovery potential, although the neutral rating signals limited conviction. Benzinga analyst rating report
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerages have assigned Aardvark a consensus “hold” recommendation, indicating that analysts are largely waiting for greater clarity on the company’s clinical and legal outlook.
• Negative Sentiment: A securities class action has been filed against Aardvark and certain officers and directors. The complaint covers investors who purchased shares in or traceable to the IPO, as well as securities purchased during the February 13, 2025–May 14, 2026 class period. Investors face an October 13, 2026 deadline to seek lead-plaintiff status. Bernstein Liebhard shareholder alert
• Negative Sentiment: The allegations center on claims that Aardvark overstated the safety and tolerability of its ARD-101 therapy before the Phase 3 HERO trial was paused and the FDA imposed a full clinical hold. The resulting uncertainty has contributed to sharply reduced price targets and weighs on the stock’s outlook. AARD shareholder alert

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.