Traders Buy Large Volume of DURECT Put Options (NASDAQ:DRRX)

Key Points

• Traders have significantly increased their activity with DURECT, purchasing 5,035 put options, marking a 368% increase in volume compared to typical trading levels.
• Institutional investors are actively adjusting their positions in DURECT, with notable increases from firms like Dalton Investments Inc. and Richmond Brothers Inc. during the second quarter.
• DURECT's stock recently traded at $1.94 with a one-year performance range between $0.48 and $2.64, while its recent earnings report highlighted a small revenue beat against analysts' expectations.

DURECT Corporation (NASDAQ:DRRX - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 5,035 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 368% compared to the typical volume of 1,076 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DURECT

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of DURECT in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Richmond Brothers Inc. lifted its holdings in DURECT by 8.0% in the second quarter. Richmond Brothers Inc. now owns 1,453,735 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $923,000 after acquiring an additional 107,329 shares during the last quarter. Dalton Investments Inc. lifted its stake in DURECT by 45.4% during the second quarter. Dalton Investments Inc. now owns 745,000 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 232,688 shares in the last quarter. Beirne Wealth Consulting Services LLC raised its stake in shares of DURECT by 6.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 17,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC raised its stake in shares of DURECT by 1.1% in the second quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 1,349,435 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 14,637 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.03% of the company's stock.

DURECT Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:DRRX traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $1.94. The stock had a trading volume of 34,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 468,734. DURECT has a one year low of $0.48 and a one year high of $2.64. The company has a market capitalization of $60.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.35 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1.41 and a 200 day moving average of $0.94.

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 12th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $0.45 million for 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that DURECT will post -0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DRRX shares. Northland Capmk lowered DURECT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen started coverage on DURECT in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. They issued a "sell" rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold".

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.

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