Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stock Rating Lowered by Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $7.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $15.00.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on ARDX. Leerink Partnrs restated an outperform rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, May 24th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, April 5th. They issued an outperform rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $11.81.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of ARDX opened at $5.28 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.36, a current ratio of 4.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of -18.86 and a beta of 0.83. Ardelyx has a 12-month low of $3.16 and a 12-month high of $10.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.64.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 41.36% and a negative return on equity of 41.65%. The business had revenue of $46.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.13) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 303.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Ardelyx will post -0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.40, for a total value of $192,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,310,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,389,971.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 17,872 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.00, for a total transaction of $125,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 158,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,109,514. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.40, for a total transaction of $192,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,310,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,389,971.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 534,119 shares of company stock worth $4,117,225. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,112 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 1,575 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Ardelyx by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 30,269 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ardelyx by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 57,729 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 4,735 shares during the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,100 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 7,117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

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.