Brokerages Set Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) Price Target at $8.83

Shares of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $8.83.

ESPR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America lowered Esperion Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $2.90 to $2.50 in a report on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com lowered Esperion Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Friday, June 28th.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Performance

ESPR stock opened at $2.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $447.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.38, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.02. Esperion Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.70 and a 1 year high of $3.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $2.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.42.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.42. The business had revenue of $137.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.11 million. As a group, analysts predict that Esperion Therapeutics will post 0.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESPR. Bellevue Group AG increased its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 136.5% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,826,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,655,000 after purchasing an additional 3,688,796 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new position in Esperion Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $9,568,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 159.1% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 1,116,655 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 685,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 9,129,647 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,467,000 after purchasing an additional 238,544 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.39% of the company’s stock.

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.