Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $6.36, but opened at $5.70. Ardelyx shares last traded at $5.63, with a volume of 1,952,513 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ARDX shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Ardelyx from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $5.50 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $9.42.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 4.03 and a quick ratio of 3.87. The business has a 50-day moving average of $5.29 and a 200-day moving average of $5.64. The company has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.15 and a beta of 0.85.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 28.82% and a negative return on equity of 46.60%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardelyx

In related news, Director David M. Mott purchased 213,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.67 per share, for a total transaction of $996,111.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,638,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,653,032.55. This trade represents a 14.96 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.26, for a total transaction 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 $6,051,025.10. This represents a 2.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 133,332 shares of company stock worth $710,576 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARDX. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Ardelyx by 13.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,858,061 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 5.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Ardelyx by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,141,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $83,657,000 after purchasing an additional 176,789 shares in the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 11.2% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 7,413,049 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $51,076,000 after buying an additional 746,067 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ardelyx by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,509,730 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,941,000 after acquiring an additional 21,988 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.