DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Thursday.

Separately, HC Wainwright reissued a neutral rating on shares of DURECT in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, DURECT has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $27.50.

DURECT Price Performance

NASDAQ:DRRX traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $1.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 30,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 166,176. DURECT has a 1 year low of $0.47 and a 1 year high of $3.38. The stock has a market cap of $44.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.55 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.17.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 13th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by ($0.04). DURECT had a negative net margin of 279.77% and a negative return on equity of 328.25%. The business had revenue of $1.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.73 million. Analysts anticipate that DURECT will post -0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DRRX. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 6,300 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of DURECT during the 2nd quarter worth about $113,000. Richmond Brothers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of DURECT during the 4th quarter worth about $306,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in DURECT by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 256,220 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gagnon Securities LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 21,425 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.