Insider Selling: Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Insider Sells $226,480.00 in Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) insider Robert Blanks sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total value of $226,480.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 324,331 shares in the company, valued at $1,933,012.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Ardelyx Price Performance

Ardelyx stock opened at $6.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 4.53 and a quick ratio of 4.36. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.21 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $6.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.59. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 1 year low of $3.16 and a 1 year high of $10.13.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $46.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.13) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 303.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ARDX. Xponance Inc. increased its stake 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 period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,608 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 57,729 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 4,735 shares in the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,100 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 7,117 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ARDX shares. Leerink Partnrs reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. SVB Leerink began coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, April 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $12.81.

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.