DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by HC Wainwright

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by equities research analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for DURECT’s Q2 2024 earnings at ($0.18) EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at ($0.24) EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at ($0.35) EPS, FY2024 earnings at ($0.97) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($1.06) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($1.18) EPS, FY2027 earnings at ($0.39) EPS and FY2028 earnings at $1.94 EPS.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of DURECT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $5.00 target price on shares of DURECT in a report on Monday, April 1st. One research 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 MarketBeat.com, DURECT presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.50.

DURECT Stock Performance

Shares of DRRX stock traded up $0.01 on Wednesday, reaching $0.95. 14,596 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 173,537. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $1.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $0.92. DURECT has a twelve month low of $0.47 and a twelve month high of $7.46.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DURECT

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Richmond Brothers Inc. raised its stake in DURECT by 48.2% during the 1st quarter. Richmond Brothers Inc. now owns 768,344 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $930,000 after acquiring an additional 250,050 shares during the last quarter. CM Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 55,000 shares during the period. Gagnon Securities LLC raised its stake 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 worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 21,425 shares during the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted 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 worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Finally, Ironwood Investment Management LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 121,930 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.