DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Receives “Neutral” Rating from HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reissued their neutral rating on shares of DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports.

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on DURECT in a research report on Monday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock.

DURECT Stock Down 9.8 %

Shares of DURECT stock traded down $0.11 on Thursday, hitting $1.01. 121,069 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 134,684. The stock has a market cap of $31.35 million, a P/E ratio of -1.64 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1.36 and its 200 day moving average is $1.37. DURECT has a 52-week low of $0.48 and a 52-week high of $1.88.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.49 million. DURECT had a negative return on equity of 235.22% and a negative net margin of 198.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.46) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that DURECT will post -0.78 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DURECT

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 6,300 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of DURECT during the second quarter valued at $113,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Gagnon Securities LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 21,425 shares during the period. Finally, Richmond Brothers Inc. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 303,670 shares during the period. 28.03% of the stock is 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.