DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average of $1.01

DURECT Co. (NASDAQ:DRRX)’s stock price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $1.01 and traded as high as $1.45. DURECT shares last traded at $1.36, with a volume of 99,302 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRRX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised DURECT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of DURECT in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $5.00 target price on shares of DURECT in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

DURECT Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $39.73 million, a P/E ratio of -1.35 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $1.02.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 13th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.25) earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that DURECT Co. will post -0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of DURECT

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Richmond Brothers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of DURECT in the 4th quarter worth approximately $306,000. Silverberg Bernstein Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of DURECT in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ironwood Investment Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $514,000 after buying an additional 121,930 shares in the last quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of DURECT by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 380,131 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $460,000 after buying an additional 21,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $310,000 after buying an additional 25,000 shares in 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.