Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Shares Down 7.6% – What’s Next?

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) shares dropped 7.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $5.25 and last traded at $5.29. Approximately 1,107,908 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 4,252,604 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.72.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARDX has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James restated 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $5.50 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Friday. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Three equities research 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.93.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

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 has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.28 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $5.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.64.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.02. The business had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.16 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 46.60% and a negative net margin of 28.82%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In other news, Director David M. Mott purchased 213,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $4.67 per share, for a total transaction of $996,111.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,638,765 shares in the company, valued at $7,653,032.55. This represents a 14.96 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.26, for a total transaction of $131,500.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,332 shares of company stock worth $710,576. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew 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 valued at $123,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,858,061 shares during the period. Two Seas Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 4th quarter worth about $9,407,000. Rock Springs Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 4th quarter worth about $7,421,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Ardelyx by 9,499.8% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,468,668 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Ardelyx during the 4th quarter worth about $6,762,000. 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.