DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) in a research note released on Thursday. The firm issued a sell rating on the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Separately, HC Wainwright reiterated a neutral rating on shares of DURECT in a report on Thursday, September 26th.

DURECT Trading Up 1.2 %

DURECT stock opened at $1.30 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $40.35 million, a PE ratio of -1.37 and a beta of 1.13. DURECT has a 1 year low of $0.47 and a 1 year high of $3.14. The company’s 50-day moving average is $1.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.30.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.49 million. DURECT had a negative net margin of 187.80% and a negative return on equity of 261.43%. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.46) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that DURECT will post -0.78 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DURECT

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DRRX. Richmond Brothers Inc. lifted its holdings in DURECT by 39.5% during the second quarter. Richmond Brothers Inc. now owns 1,072,014 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,383,000 after acquiring an additional 303,670 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of DURECT by 41.3% in the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 21,550 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 6,300 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. bought a new stake in DURECT during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $113,000. Gagnon Securities LLC raised its holdings in DURECT by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 380,131 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $460,000 after buying an additional 21,425 shares during the period. Finally, Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in DURECT by 10.8% in the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 256,220 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.03% of the company’s stock.

About DURECT

DURECT Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, develops medicines based on its epigenetic regulator program. The company's lead product larsucosterol (DUR-928), an endogenous, orally bioavailable small molecule that is in Phase IIb clinical trial to play a regulatory role in lipid metabolism, stress and inflammatory responses, and cell death and survival to treat alcohol-associated hepatitis, as well as completed Phase Ib clinical trial to treat patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.