Esperion Therapeutics’ (ESPR) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by analysts at HC Wainwright in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $16.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on ESPR. StockNews.com lowered Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $4.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $8.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $4.00 target price (down from $7.00) on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One research 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.75.

Esperion Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:ESPR traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $1.78. The stock had a trading volume of 2,869,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,999,334. The stock has a market capitalization of $349.74 million, a P/E ratio of -2.76 and a beta of 1.01. Esperion Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $1.57 and a 1-year high of $3.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.09.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.04. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 24,482,258 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $53,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,245 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 4.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,331,314 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,148,000 after buying an additional 171,609 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,854,314 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,360,000 after acquiring an additional 99,802 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,616,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,956,000 after acquiring an additional 16,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in 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 during the last quarter. 47.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.