DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

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

DURECT Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of DRRX traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $1.32. The stock had a trading volume of 22,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 143,314. DURECT has a 52 week low of $0.47 and a 52 week high of $3.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.30.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 million. DURECT had a negative return on equity of 261.43% and a negative net margin of 187.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.46) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that DURECT will post -0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DRRX. Richmond Brothers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of DURECT by 48.2% during the first quarter. Richmond Brothers Inc. now owns 768,344 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $930,000 after buying an additional 250,050 shares in the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of DURECT by 10.8% during 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. Gagnon Securities LLC grew its stake in DURECT by 6.0% in the first quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 380,131 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 21,425 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. purchased a new position in DURECT in the second quarter valued at about $113,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in DURECT by 41.3% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.