Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on ESPR. HC Wainwright reiterated a buy rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Esperion Therapeutics from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and lowered their price target for the company from $2.90 to $2.50 in a report on Thursday, June 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $8.17.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ESPR opened at $2.04 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $386.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.06 and a beta of 1.00. Esperion Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.70 and a 52-week high of $3.40.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $73.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.90 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESPR. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $66,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 1,128,149 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,373,000 after purchasing an additional 11,494 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 2.7% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 9,129,647 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $24,467,000 after purchasing an additional 238,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boomfish Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $80,000. 47.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Esperion Therapeutics

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc, a pharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes medicines for the treatment of patients with elevated low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Its marketed products include NEXLETOL (bempedoic acid) and NEXLIZET (bempedoic acid and ezetimibe) tablets that are oral, once-daily, non-statin medicines for the treatment of primary hyperlipidemia in adults with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia or atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease who require additional lowering of LDL-C.