Analysts Set Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Price Target at $10.42

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $10.42.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ARDX. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. HC Wainwright cut shares of Ardelyx from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $5.50 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ardelyx from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Ardelyx Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of ARDX opened at $5.31 on Friday. Ardelyx has a 12-month low of $4.06 and a 12-month high of $10.13. The company has a current ratio of 4.03, a quick ratio of 3.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of -17.70 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50 day moving average is $5.84 and its 200 day moving average is $6.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ardelyx news, CEO Michael Raab sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.61, for a total transaction of $196,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,220,608 shares in the company, valued at $6,847,610.88. The trade was a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,260 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.79, for a total transaction of $25,195.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 291,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,394,555.81. This represents a 1.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 234,568 shares of company stock valued at $1,384,791 over the last ninety days. 5.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 1,026.3% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 3,233 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Ardelyx in the 2nd quarter valued at $62,000. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ardelyx in the second quarter worth $74,000. Helen Stephens Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the third quarter worth $76,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the first quarter valued at $86,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.