Cantor Fitzgerald Upgrades Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) to Strong-Buy

Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $5.50 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.42.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

NASDAQ ARDX opened at $5.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.87 and a beta of 0.85. Ardelyx has a fifty-two week low of $4.32 and a fifty-two week high of $10.13. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.63. 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 Activity at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, insider David P. Rosenbaum sold 27,172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.95, for a total value of $161,673.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 153,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $914,015.20. The trade was a 15.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total value of $223,329.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,108,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 235,024 shares of company stock valued at $1,265,096 in the last three months. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 3.4% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 90,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 50,222 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 23,510 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 5,346 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 14.6% in the third quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 46,282 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 5,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 326,124 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,653,000 after purchasing an additional 6,070 shares in the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.