Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Price Target Lowered to $8.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $11.00 to $8.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 60.97% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. HC Wainwright cut shares of Ardelyx from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $5.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.07.

Ardelyx Stock Down 2.9 %

NASDAQ:ARDX opened at $4.97 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.87, a current ratio of 4.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Ardelyx has a 12-month low of $4.32 and a 12-month high of $10.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.57 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In related news, CEO Michael Raab sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.91, for a total transaction of $147,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,210,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,151,738.28. This represents a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Mott purchased 213,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.67 per share, with a total value of $996,111.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,638,765 shares in the company, valued at $7,653,032.55. This trade represents a 14.96 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 184,192 shares of company stock valued at $1,013,345 in the last three months. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Ardelyx by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,144 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,667,000 after purchasing an additional 6,093 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Ardelyx by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 90,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,487,742 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $37,818,000 after acquiring an additional 17,296 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 547,325 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,770,000 after purchasing an additional 109,285 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Ardelyx by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,141,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $83,657,000 after buying an additional 176,789 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

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.