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

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) in a research note published on Monday morning. The firm issued 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 NASDAQ:DRRX opened at $1.29 on Monday. DURECT has a one year low of $0.48 and a one year high of $1.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1.38 and a 200-day moving average of $1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $40.04 million, a PE ratio of -2.11 and a beta of 1.13.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $2.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.46) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that DURECT will post -0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DURECT

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Richmond Brothers Inc. increased its stake in shares of DURECT by 39.5% in the second quarter. Richmond Brothers Inc. now owns 1,072,014 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,383,000 after acquiring an additional 303,670 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of DURECT in the second quarter worth $113,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 6,300 shares during the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC increased its stake 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 worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 21,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. increased 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 worth $310,000 after buying an additional 25,000 shares during the last quarter. 28.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.