DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

DRRX has been the subject of a number of other reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a neutral rating on shares of DURECT in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $5.00 price objective on shares of DURECT in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $27.50.

DURECT Price Performance

Shares of DURECT stock opened at $1.30 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $1.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.35 million, a PE ratio of -1.37 and a beta of 0.94. DURECT has a 52-week low of $0.47 and a 52-week high of $6.74.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.36) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 million. DURECT had a negative net margin of 279.77% and a negative return on equity of 328.25%. Analysts predict that DURECT will post -0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of DURECT

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Richmond Brothers Inc. acquired a new position in DURECT in the fourth quarter valued at about $306,000. Ironwood Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of DURECT by 144.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ironwood Investment Management LLC now owns 206,267 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 121,930 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in DURECT by 111.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 195,020 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 103,000 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. acquired a new stake in DURECT during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $141,000. Finally, CM Management LLC lifted its stake in DURECT by 11.7% in the third quarter. CM Management LLC now owns 525,000 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,307,000 after buying an additional 55,000 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.