Insider Selling: Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) CFO Sells $11,893.05 in Stock

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) CFO Susan Hohenleitner sold 2,033 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.85, for a total transaction of $11,893.05. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 230,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,348,618.05. This represents a 0.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ardelyx Price Performance

ARDX stock opened at $6.56 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $6.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.14. Ardelyx, Inc. has a 12-month low of $3.21 and a 12-month high of $8.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.24 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 4.31, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $125.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.04 million. Ardelyx had a negative return on equity of 40.63% and a negative net margin of 15.12%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ardelyx, Inc. will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Ardelyx by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 317,410 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,851,000 after purchasing an additional 59,597 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Ardelyx by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 38,512 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 1,722 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Ardelyx by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 199,550 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,155,000 after buying an additional 22,715 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 1,690.9% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 17,909 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 16,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Ardelyx during the 4th quarter valued at about $698,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ARDX. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Ardelyx from $10.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup raised their price target on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.09.

About Ardelyx

Ardelyx, Inc (NASDAQ: ARDX) is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing targeted small molecule drugs for cardio‐renal and gastrointestinal diseases. The company’s lead marketed product, tenapanor (sold under the brand name XPHOZAH in the United States), is approved for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis. Ardelyx’s proprietary approach targets epithelial transporters in the gastrointestinal tract, offering localized activity with limited systemic exposure.

Beyond tenapanor, Ardelyx’s development pipeline includes treatments designed to address other complications in kidney disease and related metabolic disorders.