Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) Downgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ESPR. HC Wainwright reissued a buy rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 12th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Esperion Therapeutics from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and reduced their target price 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, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $8.17.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:ESPR opened at $1.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $312.61 million, a PE ratio of -1.67 and a beta of 1.00. Esperion Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.70 and a 52-week high of $3.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.20.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $73.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.90 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESPR. Bellevue Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 136.5% in the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 9,944,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,650,000 after purchasing an additional 5,739,800 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 2.7% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 9,129,647 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,467,000 after acquiring an additional 238,544 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 71.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,826,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,655,000 after acquiring an additional 3,688,796 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,087,635 shares during the period. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,568,000. 47.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.