Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Price Target Cut to $8.00 by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) had its target price cut by Jefferies Financial Group from $11.00 to $8.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on ARDX. HC Wainwright lowered shares of Ardelyx from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $5.50 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.07.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ARDX opened at $4.97 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.87, a current ratio of 4.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Ardelyx has a twelve month low of $4.32 and a twelve month high of $10.13. The company has a fifty day moving average of $5.27 and a 200-day moving average of $5.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.57 and a beta of 0.85.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.01, for a total transaction of $45,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,210,108 shares in the company, valued at $7,272,749.08. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Justin A. Renz sold 5,260 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.79, for a total transaction of $25,195.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 291,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,394,555.81. The trade was a 1.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 184,192 shares of company stock valued at $1,013,345 over the last ninety days. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARDX. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 142.8% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,203,090 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,995 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Ardelyx by 68.5% during the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 3,060,191 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $21,085,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243,606 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC grew 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 valued at $51,076,000 after purchasing an additional 746,067 shares during the period. Vestal Point Capital LP purchased a new stake in Ardelyx in the third quarter worth $3,445,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 375.9% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 460,689 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after buying an additional 363,894 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.