Investors Buy High Volume of Ardelyx Put Options (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 12,093 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 411% compared to the typical volume of 2,365 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Ardelyx to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. BTIG Research began coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Ardelyx in a report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Ardelyx from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Ardelyx to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ardelyx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.61.

Insider Transactions at Ardelyx

In other Ardelyx news, Director David M. Mott bought 199,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.99 per share, with a total value of $993,010.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,937,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,669,447.35. This represents a 11.44 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Raab sold 41,666 shares of Ardelyx stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total value of $223,329.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 sold 158,076 shares of company stock worth $823,804 over the last 90 days. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardelyx

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Ardelyx by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,387,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $123,587,000 after buying an additional 2,858,061 shares during the period. Two Seas Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ardelyx during the 4th quarter worth about $9,407,000. Rock Springs Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Ardelyx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,421,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Ardelyx by 9,499.8% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,468,668 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,446,000 after buying an additional 1,453,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Ardelyx during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,762,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.92% of the company’s stock.

Ardelyx Trading Up 3.9 %

Ardelyx stock opened at $4.50 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $5.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.42. Ardelyx has a 52 week low of $4.02 and a 52 week high of $9.33. The stock has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of -28.13 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 4.58, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

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

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.