Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Trading Up 7.9% – Here’s Why

Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) traded up 7.9% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $6.22 and last traded at $6.25. 1,314,370 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 4,156,478 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARDX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Ardelyx from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup decreased 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. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of 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 one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.42.

Ardelyx Trading Up 10.9 %

The company has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.40 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 3.87, a current ratio of 4.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $5.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.63.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In other news, insider Laura A. Williams sold 7,366 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.79, for a total value of $35,283.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 308,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,888.55. The trade was a 2.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Mott acquired 213,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,638,765 shares in the company, valued at $7,653,032.55. This represents a 14.96 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 177,938 shares of company stock worth $924,239. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,858,061 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,362,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $72,819,000 after purchasing an additional 767,111 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,141,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $83,657,000 after buying an additional 176,789 shares in the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $51,076,000 after buying an additional 746,067 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ardelyx by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,509,730 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,941,000 after buying an additional 21,988 shares in the last quarter. 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.