Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Shares Down 7.6% After Insider Selling

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) traded down 7.6% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $5.25 and last traded at $5.29. 1,107,908 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 4,252,604 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.72.

Specifically, CEO Michael Raab sold 22,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total value of $129,057.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,085,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,101,943.10. This represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total value of $29,061.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 285,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,607,140.16. This trade represents a 1.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 4,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total value of $27,768.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 303,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,378.48. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $13.00 target price (down previously from $15.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.93.

Ardelyx Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.63. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.59 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 3.87 and a current ratio of 4.03.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 25.74% and a negative net margin of 11.73%. The firm had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.16 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,387,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $123,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,858,061 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $72,819,000 after acquiring an additional 767,111 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,141,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $83,657,000 after acquiring an additional 176,789 shares in the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 7,413,049 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $51,076,000 after acquiring an additional 746,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,509,730 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,941,000 after acquiring an additional 21,988 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

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.