DURECT Co. (NASDAQ:DRRX) is Richmond Brothers Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

Richmond Brothers Inc. increased its holdings in DURECT Co. (NASDAQ:DRRX) by 39.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,072,014 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 303,670 shares during the quarter. DURECT makes up about 2.7% of Richmond Brothers Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Richmond Brothers Inc. owned approximately 3.45% of DURECT worth $1,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of DURECT by 41.3% during 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 buying an additional 6,300 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of DURECT in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $113,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in DURECT by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 256,220 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gagnon Securities LLC boosted its stake in DURECT by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 380,131 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 21,425 shares in the last quarter. 28.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

DURECT Trading Down 4.9 %

DRRX opened at $1.35 on Thursday. DURECT Co. has a 12-month low of $0.47 and a 12-month high of $3.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.90 million, a PE ratio of -1.42 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.29.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 187.80% and a negative return on equity of 261.43%. The company had revenue of $2.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.46) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that DURECT Co. will post -0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on DRRX. StockNews.com cut shares of DURECT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of DURECT in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd.

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.