Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Shares Down 2.9% – Should You Sell?

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)’s stock price was down 2.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $5.14 and last traded at $5.17. Approximately 1,123,619 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 4,307,325 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ARDX shares. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $5.50 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 21st. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reissued a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.95.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.66 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 4.58. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.55.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 11.73% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The firm had revenue of $116.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.16 million. Analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, Director David M. Mott acquired 213,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.67 per share, for a total transaction of $996,111.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,638,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,653,032.55. This represents a 14.96 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total transaction of $223,329.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,108,719 shares in the company, valued at $5,942,733.84. This represents a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 490,029 shares of company stock worth $2,377,766 and have sold 158,076 shares worth $853,804. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group bought a new stake in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ardelyx

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.