DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

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

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

DURECT Stock Performance

Shares of DRRX opened at $1.26 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.33 and a beta of 1.13. DURECT has a one year low of $0.47 and a one year high of $3.14.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.46) EPS. On average, analysts predict that DURECT will post -0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DURECT

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Richmond Brothers Inc. raised its position in DURECT by 39.5% in the 2nd quarter. Richmond Brothers Inc. now owns 1,072,014 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 303,670 shares in the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC raised its position in shares of DURECT by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 380,131 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 21,425 shares in the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of DURECT during the 2nd quarter worth about $113,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 6,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.