Raymond James Reaffirms Strong-Buy Rating for Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX)‘s stock had its “strong-buy” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Raymond James in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $13.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $15.00. Raymond James’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 144.77% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on ARDX. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and set a $5.50 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.93.

Ardelyx Stock Down 7.2 %

Shares of Ardelyx stock traded down $0.41 on Friday, hitting $5.31. The company had a trading volume of 3,181,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,314,810. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 3.87 and a current ratio of 4.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.29 and a 200-day moving average of $5.64. Ardelyx has a 1 year low of $4.32 and a 1 year high of $9.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.85 and a beta of 0.85.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 28.82% and a negative return on equity of 46.60%. The company had revenue of $116.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.16 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ardelyx will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.26, for a total value of $131,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,150,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,051,025.10. This represents a 2.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David M. Mott bought 199,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.99 per share, for a total transaction of $993,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,937,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,669,447.35. The trade was a 11.44 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 133,332 shares of company stock valued at $710,576. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 266.0% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 140,133 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 101,841 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Ardelyx in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Palisades Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ardelyx by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC now owns 517,781 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,625,000 after acquiring an additional 34,432 shares in the last quarter. Two Seas Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Ardelyx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,407,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Ardelyx by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 578,256 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,932,000 after acquiring an additional 142,294 shares during the last quarter. 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.