Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Downgraded to “Sell” at StockNews.com

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ardelyx from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, May 24th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, June 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.81.

Ardelyx Trading Up 14.0 %

Shares of Ardelyx stock traded up $0.91 on Friday, hitting $7.41. 11,925,303 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,638,309. Ardelyx has a one year low of $3.16 and a one year high of $10.13. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $7.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.46 and a beta of 0.79.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $46.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.40 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 41.65% and a negative net margin of 41.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 303.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.13) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ardelyx will post -0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ardelyx news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total transaction of $52,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,310,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,255,186.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Robert Ora Felsch sold 207,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.81, for a total transaction of $1,832,374.28. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 95,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $845,293.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total value of $52,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,310,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,255,186.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 535,637 shares of company stock valued at $4,128,322. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARDX. HighMark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardelyx in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ardelyx during the first quarter valued at approximately $64,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. acquired a new stake in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in Ardelyx during the first quarter valued at $86,000. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.