Justin A. Renz Sells 5,171 Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,171 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total transaction of $29,061.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 285,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,607,140.16. The trade was a 1.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

ARDX opened at $5.06 on Friday. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12-month low of $4.32 and a 12-month high of $9.83. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of -16.85 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $5.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.64.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02. The company had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.16 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 28.82% and a negative return on equity of 46.60%. On average, analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.17 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 1.5% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 68.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 3,060,191 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $21,085,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243,606 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 274.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 181,387 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 132,928 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new stake in Ardelyx during the 3rd quarter worth $3,445,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 387,144 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,667,000 after purchasing an additional 6,093 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $13.00 price target (down previously from $15.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.93.

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.