DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX) Rating Reiterated by HC Wainwright

DURECT (NASDAQ:DRRX)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reiterated by equities researchers at HC Wainwright in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of DURECT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

DURECT Stock Up 5.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ DRRX opened at $1.34 on Thursday. DURECT has a 12-month low of $0.47 and a 12-month high of $7.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $0.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.32. The company has a market cap of $39.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.85 and a beta of 0.82.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DURECT

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in DURECT by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,243,592 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,923,000 after purchasing an additional 225,402 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of DURECT by 2,022.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,421,646 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,114,000 after buying an additional 4,213,348 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in DURECT by 1.3% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,977,581 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,665,000 after buying an additional 52,255 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in DURECT by 20.2% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,500,278 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,345,000 after acquiring an additional 588,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC bought a new position in DURECT in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,763,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.03% of the company’s stock.

DURECT Company Profile

DURECT Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, researches and develops medicines based on its epigenetic regulator and pharmaceutical programs. The company offers ALZET product line that consists of osmotic pumps and accessories used for research in mice, rats, and other laboratory animals. It also develops 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.