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

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) had its price objective lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $11.00 to $8.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

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

Ardelyx Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARDX opened at $4.97 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of -16.57 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 4.03 and a quick ratio of 3.87. Ardelyx has a fifty-two week low of $4.32 and a fifty-two week high of $10.13.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In related news, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,260 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.79, for a total transaction of $25,195.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 291,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,394,555.81. This trade represents a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David M. Mott bought 213,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.67 per share, for a total transaction of $996,111.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,638,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 90 days. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Ardelyx by 142.8% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,203,090 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,995 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 68.5% during the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 3,060,191 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $21,085,000 after buying an additional 1,243,606 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Ardelyx by 11.2% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 7,413,049 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $51,076,000 after buying an additional 746,067 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new position in Ardelyx in the third quarter valued at $3,445,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in Ardelyx by 375.9% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 460,689 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after buying an additional 363,894 shares during the period. 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.