Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Trading 5.3% Higher on Insider Buying Activity

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)’s share price traded up 5.3% on Thursday following insider buying activity. The company traded as high as $5.41 and last traded at $5.37. 360,250 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 4,246,100 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.10.

Specifically, Director David M. Mott bought 77,729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.00 per share, for a total transaction of $388,645.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,015,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,077,470. This trade represents a 4.01 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on ARDX shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Ardelyx from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $5.50 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have 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 a consensus target price of $9.93.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 4.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.62. The company has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.09 and a beta of 0.85.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 11.73% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The firm had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.16 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,387,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $123,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,858,061 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 5.6% during the fourth 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 during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Ardelyx by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,141,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $83,657,000 after purchasing an additional 176,789 shares in the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 746,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ardelyx by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,509,730 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,941,000 after purchasing an additional 21,988 shares during the period. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.