DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Stock Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average of $1.23

DURECT Co. (NASDAQ:DRRX)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $1.23 and traded as high as $1.48. DURECT shares last traded at $1.43, with a volume of 23,682 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of DURECT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of DURECT in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

DURECT Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $44.39 million, a PE ratio of -1.51 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.23.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 million. DURECT had a negative net margin of 279.77% and a negative return on equity of 328.25%. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.46) earnings per share. Analysts expect that DURECT Co. will post -0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of DURECT

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Richmond Brothers Inc. raised 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 valued at $1,383,000 after buying an additional 303,670 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 6,300 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of DURECT in the second quarter worth approximately $113,000. Gagnon Securities LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 21,425 shares during the period. Finally, Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.