Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Price Target Raised to $12.00 at Citigroup

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) had its price objective hoisted by Citigroup from $10.00 to $12.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ardelyx from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday. Leerink Partnrs reiterated an outperform rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, SVB Leerink began coverage on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, April 5th. They issued an outperform rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $10.94.

Ardelyx Stock Up 10.0 %

Ardelyx stock opened at $6.05 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 4.36 and a current ratio of 4.53. Ardelyx has a 12 month low of $3.16 and a 12 month high of $10.13.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.04. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 31.02% and a negative return on equity of 38.41%. The business had revenue of $73.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. Ardelyx’s revenue was up 228.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ardelyx will post -0.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.72, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,270,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,536,234.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Michael Raab sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.72, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,270,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,536,234.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Robert Blanks sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total transaction of $226,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 324,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,933,012.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 494,170 shares of company stock valued at $3,752,676. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 283.9% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 471,453 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,493,000 after buying an additional 348,642 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 34.5% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 63,176 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 16,198 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 1,026.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 3,233 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 34.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 588,192 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,359,000 after buying an additional 149,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clay Northam Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ardelyx by 154.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clay Northam Wealth Management LLC now owns 232,377 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,722,000 after buying an additional 141,145 shares in the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.