Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Meets Expectations

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.02, Zacks reports. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 46.60% and a negative net margin of 28.82%.

Ardelyx Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARDX traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $5.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,269,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,254,293. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.05 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.64. Ardelyx has a fifty-two week low of $4.32 and a fifty-two week high of $9.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 3.87 and a current ratio of 4.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David M. Mott bought 199,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.99 per share, with a total value of $993,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,937,765 shares in the company, valued at $9,669,447.35. This represents a 11.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total value of $223,329.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,108,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,942,733.84. This trade represents a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 133,332 shares of company stock valued at $710,576 over the last three months. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $5.50 target price on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ardelyx presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.42.

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.