DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) in a research report released on Wednesday morning. The brokerage 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 Stock Performance

DRRX stock opened at $1.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $38.49 million, a PE ratio of -1.31 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.30. DURECT has a fifty-two week low of $0.47 and a fifty-two week high of $3.14.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) earnings per share 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 firm 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 firm posted ($0.46) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that DURECT will post -0.8 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DURECT

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 6,300 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. bought a new position in DURECT in the 2nd quarter worth about $113,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. increased 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 worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Gagnon Securities LLC increased 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 worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 21,425 shares during the period. Finally, Richmond Brothers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of DURECT by 48.2% in the first quarter. Richmond Brothers Inc. now owns 768,344 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 250,050 shares during the period. 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.