DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Stock Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• DURECT Corporation's shares have surpassed the 200-day moving average, trading at $1.91 after hitting a high of $1.94 during recent trading.
• The stock received a recent sell rating from Wall Street Zen, with a consensus rating of "Hold" from various analysts.
• DURECT reported earnings of ($0.07) per share, exceeding estimates, and had revenue of $0.45 million for the quarter.

DURECT Corporation (NASDAQ:DRRX - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $0.91 and traded as high as $1.94. DURECT shares last traded at $1.91, with a volume of 930,599 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRRX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Northland Capmk cut DURECT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen began coverage on shares of DURECT in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. They issued a "sell" rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold".

DURECT Stock Down 1.0%

The stock has a market cap of $59.31 million, a P/E ratio of -19.10 and a beta of 0.92. The company's 50 day moving average price is $1.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $0.95.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 12th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $0.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.32 million. DURECT had a negative return on equity of 259.16% and a negative net margin of 96.19%. Equities research analysts anticipate that DURECT Corporation will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DURECT

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DRRX. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in DURECT by 266.0% in the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 39,196 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 28,486 shares during the last quarter. Beirne Wealth Consulting Services LLC lifted its position in shares of DURECT by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Beirne Wealth Consulting Services LLC now owns 314,150 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock worth $200,000 after purchasing an additional 17,800 shares during the period. Dalton Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of DURECT by 109.1% in the 1st quarter. Dalton Investments Inc. now owns 512,312 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 267,312 shares during the last quarter. Richmond Brothers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of DURECT by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Richmond Brothers Inc. now owns 1,346,406 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 65,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC increased its position in shares of DURECT by 1.1% during the second quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 1,349,435 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock worth $857,000 after buying an additional 14,637 shares during the period. 28.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.