DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average of $1.28

DURECT Co. (NASDAQ:DRRX)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $1.28 and traded as high as $1.58. DURECT shares last traded at $1.42, with a volume of 116,380 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

DURECT Stock Down 9.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $44.08 million, a P/E ratio of -1.49 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.28.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.49 million. DURECT had a negative net margin of 187.80% and a negative return on equity of 261.43%. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.46) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that DURECT Co. will post -0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of DURECT

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DRRX. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 6,300 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of DURECT in the second quarter worth $113,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. increased 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 acquiring an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC raised its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Richmond Brothers Inc. boosted its stake in DURECT by 48.2% in the 1st quarter. Richmond Brothers Inc. now owns 768,344 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $930,000 after purchasing an additional 250,050 shares in the last quarter. 28.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.