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

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) in a research report report published on Friday. The firm issued a sell rating on the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Separately, HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of DURECT in a research note on Thursday, September 26th.

DURECT Price Performance

DURECT stock opened at $1.32 on Friday. DURECT has a one year low of $0.47 and a one year high of $3.14. The company has a market cap of $40.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.39 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1.37 and a 200-day moving average of $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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.05. DURECT had a negative return on equity of 261.43% and a negative net margin of 187.80%. The company had revenue of $2.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.46) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that DURECT will post -0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of DURECT

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

DURECT Company Profile

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.