Short Interest in Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) Decreases By 8.1%

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 31,240,000 shares, a decline of 8.1% from the January 15th total of 33,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.0 days. Approximately 16.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ESPR. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $8.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $4.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $4.00 price target (down previously from $7.00) on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Esperion Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.75.

Institutional Trading of Esperion Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 38.4% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 23,346,013 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $38,521,000 after purchasing an additional 6,483,070 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,119,253 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,243 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 45.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,629,980 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,586,000 after acquiring an additional 506,428 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,454,216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,399,000 after acquiring an additional 385,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $606,000. 47.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Esperion Therapeutics Trading Up 0.5 %

Esperion Therapeutics stock opened at $1.87 on Wednesday. Esperion Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $1.58 and a 1 year high of $3.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $2.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.11.

Esperion Therapeutics Company Profile

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.