Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Insider Laura A. Williams Sells 4,941 Shares

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) insider Laura A. Williams sold 4,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total value of $27,768.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 303,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,707,378.48. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

ARDX stock traded down $0.67 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $5.06. The stock had a trading volume of 6,744,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,432,597. The stock has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of -16.85 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 3.87 and a current ratio of 4.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.64. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 52-week low of $4.32 and a 52-week high of $9.83.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02. The company had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.16 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 46.60% and a negative net margin of 28.82%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.17 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARDX. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 328.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,814 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 9,821 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 643,912 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,437,000 after buying an additional 55,720 shares during the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 46,282 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 5,890 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,365 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 7,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 45,280 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 17,792 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective (down previously from $15.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Ardelyx from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.93.

Ardelyx Company Profile

Ardelyx, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines to treat gastrointestinal and cardiorenal therapeutic areas in the United States and internationally. The company’s lead product candidate is tenapanor for the treatment of patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation.