DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

Equities researchers at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) in a research report issued on Wednesday. The brokerage set a “sell” rating on the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock.

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

DURECT Stock Performance

NASDAQ DRRX opened at $1.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $1.30. DURECT has a one year low of $0.47 and a one year high of $3.14. The company has a market capitalization of $42.21 million, a P/E ratio of -1.43 and a beta of 1.14.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $2.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.46) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that DURECT will post -0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 6,300 shares during the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of DURECT by 6.0% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $310,000 after buying an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of DURECT during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $113,000. Finally, Richmond Brothers Inc. boosted its holdings in DURECT by 48.2% during the 1st quarter. Richmond Brothers Inc. now owns 768,344 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $930,000 after acquiring an additional 250,050 shares during the period. 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.