DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Stock Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

DURECT Co. (NASDAQ:DRRX) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $1.32 and traded as high as $1.47. DURECT shares last traded at $1.43, with a volume of 72,326 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRRX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of DURECT in a research note on Saturday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of DURECT in a research report on Thursday, September 26th.

DURECT Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $1.38 and its 200-day moving average is $1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.51 and a beta of 1.13.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the business earned ($0.46) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that DURECT Co. will post -0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DURECT

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRRX. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 6,300 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of DURECT in the second quarter worth $113,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of DURECT by 10.8% in the 1st 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 during the period. Gagnon Securities LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 21,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richmond Brothers Inc. boosted its position in DURECT by 48.2% during 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 during the period. 28.03% of the stock is currently 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.