Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Shares Down 3.8% – Here’s What Happened

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) shares fell 3.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $4.99 and last traded at $5.05. 1,903,364 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 4,875,531 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. HC Wainwright lowered Ardelyx from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $5.50 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.42.

Ardelyx Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.90 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 3.87 and a current ratio of 4.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.01, for a total value of $45,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,210,108 shares in the company, valued at $7,272,749.08. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David M. Mott purchased 213,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.67 per share, with a total value of $996,111.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,638,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,653,032.55. The trade was a 14.96 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 184,192 shares of company stock worth $1,013,345. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARDX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,144 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,667,000 after buying an additional 6,093 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Ardelyx by 3.4% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 90,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,487,742 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,818,000 after acquiring an additional 17,296 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Ardelyx by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 547,325 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,770,000 after acquiring an additional 109,285 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,141,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $83,657,000 after purchasing an additional 176,789 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.