Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) Stock Price Up 5.8% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) traded up 5.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $5.31 and last traded at $5.29. 2,172,234 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 3,498,500 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ARDX shares. HC Wainwright cut shares of Ardelyx from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $5.50 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ardelyx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.07.

Ardelyx Trading Down 1.3 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 3.87 and a current ratio of 4.03. The firm has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of -17.80 and a beta of 0.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David M. Mott acquired 213,300 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $4.67 per share, for a total transaction of $996,111.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,638,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,653,032.55. This represents a 14.96 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $131,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,150,385 shares in the company, valued at $6,051,025.10. The trade was a 2.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 184,192 shares of company stock valued at $1,013,345. 5.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Ardelyx by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,141,850 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $83,657,000 after buying an additional 176,789 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 68.5% during the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 3,060,191 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $21,085,000 after buying an additional 1,243,606 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Ardelyx by 274.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 181,387 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 132,928 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP purchased a new stake in Ardelyx during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,445,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ardelyx by 142.8% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,203,090 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,995 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.