Cantor Fitzgerald Upgrades Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) to Strong-Buy

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) was upgraded by research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

ARDX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler raised 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. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Ardelyx from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and set a $5.50 price target on shares of Ardelyx in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $13.00 price objective (down previously from $15.00) on shares of Ardelyx in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.44.

Ardelyx Price Performance

ARDX stock opened at $5.41 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $5.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.60. The company has a quick ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 4.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.81 and a beta of 0.85. Ardelyx has a fifty-two week low of $4.32 and a fifty-two week high of $9.83.

Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.02. Ardelyx had a negative net margin of 11.73% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The business had revenue of $116.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.16 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ardelyx will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, CEO Michael Raab sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.26, for a total transaction of $131,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,150,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,051,025.10. This represents a 2.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David M. Mott acquired 199,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.99 per share, for a total transaction of $993,010.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,937,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,669,447.35. The trade was a 11.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 490,029 shares of company stock valued at $2,377,766 and have sold 141,408 shares valued at $761,963. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ardelyx

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Ardelyx by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,387,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $123,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,858,061 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $72,819,000 after purchasing an additional 767,111 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 176,789 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its position in Ardelyx by 11.2% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 7,413,049 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $51,076,000 after acquiring an additional 746,067 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $27,941,000 after purchasing an additional 21,988 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

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.