DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) in a research note issued to investors on Sunday morning. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock.

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

DURECT Stock Up 8.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ DRRX opened at $1.47 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $1.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.35. DURECT has a 52-week low of $0.47 and a 52-week high of $2.77. The company has a market cap of $45.63 million, a PE ratio of -2.21 and a beta of 1.13.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.46) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that DURECT will post -0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DURECT

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Richmond Brothers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted 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. Gagnon Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of DURECT by 6.0% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of DURECT in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $113,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake 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 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.