Citigroup Lowers Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Price Target to $10.00

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at Citigroup from $14.00 to $10.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price points to a potential upside of 87.97% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler cut shares of Ardelyx from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $15.00 to $7.00 in a report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, May 24th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.31.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of ARDX stock traded up $0.04 on Wednesday, reaching $5.32. The stock had a trading volume of 7,942,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,801,568. The company has a quick ratio of 4.36, a current ratio of 4.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $7.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.00 and a beta of 0.83. Ardelyx has a 12 month low of $3.16 and a 12 month high of $10.13.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $46.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.40 million. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 41.36% and a negative return on equity of 41.65%. Ardelyx’s quarterly revenue was up 303.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.13) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ardelyx will post -0.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In related news, insider Robert Blanks sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total transaction of $226,480.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 324,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,933,012.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Robert Blanks sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total transaction of $226,480.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 324,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,933,012.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total transaction of $52,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,310,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,255,186.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 534,119 shares of company stock valued at $4,117,225. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,112 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 30,269 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 8.9% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 57,729 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 4,735 shares during the period. HighMark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,100 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 7,117 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

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.