StockNews.com Begins Coverage on DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX)

Stock analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) in a note issued to investors on Monday. The firm set a “sell” rating on the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Separately, HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of DURECT in a research note on Thursday, March 27th.

DURECT Stock Performance

DURECT stock opened at $0.62 on Monday. DURECT has a twelve month low of $0.56 and a twelve month high of $1.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $0.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $0.90. The firm has a market cap of $19.25 million, a PE ratio of -1.02 and a beta of 0.88.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $2.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.91 million. DURECT had a negative return on equity of 300.62% and a negative net margin of 198.58%. Equities analysts anticipate that DURECT will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Richmond Brothers Inc. grew its stake in DURECT by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Richmond Brothers Inc. now owns 1,281,176 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 138,920 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in DURECT by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 319,905 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 14,658 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in DURECT by 266.0% in the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 39,196 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 28,486 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.03% of the company’s stock.

DURECT Company Profile

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.