DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Stock Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• DURECT Corporation's stock price recently crossed above its **200-day moving average**, trading as high as **$1.92** before settling at **$1.90**.
• The company reported an **earnings per share (EPS)** loss of **$0.07**, outperforming analyst expectations of a **$0.13 loss**, with quarterly revenue reaching **$0.45 million**.
• Institutional investors have increased their stakes in DURECT, with **28.03%** of the company's stock now owned by various hedge funds and institutional investors.

DURECT Corporation (NASDAQ:DRRX - Get Free Report) shares crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $0.81 and traded as high as $1.92. DURECT shares last traded at $1.90, with a volume of 778,349 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on DURECT in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. They set a "sell" rating for the company. Northland Capmk lowered DURECT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th.

DURECT Stock Down 0.5%

The firm has a market cap of $59.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.00 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $0.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $0.81.

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

Institutional Trading of DURECT

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in DURECT by 266.0% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 39,196 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 28,486 shares during the last quarter. Dalton Investments Inc. boosted its position in DURECT by 109.1% during the first 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 position in DURECT by 5.1% during the first 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. Beirne Wealth Consulting Services LLC boosted its position in DURECT by 6.0% during the second quarter. Beirne Wealth Consulting Services LLC now owns 314,150 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 17,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC boosted its position in DURECT by 1.1% during the second quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 1,349,435 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $857,000 after purchasing an additional 14,637 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.

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