DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday. The firm issued a sell rating on the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock.

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

DURECT Trading Down 4.6 %

DURECT stock opened at $1.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1.41 and a 200-day moving average of $1.30. The firm has a market cap of $38.49 million, a P/E ratio of -1.31 and a beta of 1.13. DURECT has a 1-year low of $0.47 and a 1-year high of $3.14.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.46) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that DURECT will post -0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DURECT

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richmond Brothers Inc. boosted its position in shares of DURECT by 39.5% during the second quarter. Richmond Brothers Inc. now owns 1,072,014 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after buying an additional 303,670 shares during the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of DURECT by 6.0% during the first quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 380,131 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 21,425 shares during the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 25,000 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of DURECT during the second quarter valued at $113,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of DURECT by 41.3% during 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 buying an additional 6,300 shares during the last quarter. 28.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.