Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Esperion Therapeutics from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Esperion Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.17.

Esperion Therapeutics Trading Up 8.1 %

Shares of ESPR stock opened at $2.28 on Thursday. Esperion Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $0.87 and a twelve month high of $3.40. The company has a market capitalization of $447.39 million, a PE ratio of -3.56 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.13.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $73.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.90 million. Equities research analysts predict that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.09 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bellevue Group AG lifted its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics by 136.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 9,944,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,650,000 after purchasing an additional 5,739,800 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 71.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,826,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,655,000 after purchasing an additional 3,688,796 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 94.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,303,596 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,554,000 after buying an additional 2,087,635 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 3,278.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 572,323 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,271,000 after buying an additional 555,382 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in Esperion Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $758,000. Institutional investors own 47.39% of the company’s stock.

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.