StockNews.com Begins Coverage on DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX)

Research analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) in a report issued on Sunday. The firm 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 Up 0.7 %

Shares of DRRX opened at $1.35 on Friday. DURECT has a 52 week low of $0.47 and a 52 week high of $2.77. The company has a market capitalization of $41.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.23 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.35.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 million. DURECT had a negative return on equity of 261.43% and a negative net margin of 187.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.46) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that DURECT will post -0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DURECT

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Richmond Brothers Inc. boosted 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 worth $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 303,670 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of DURECT by 41.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 6,300 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of DURECT in the second quarter valued at approximately $113,000. Gagnon Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of DURECT by 6.0% in the first quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 380,131 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 21,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its position 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 valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.