Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) Rating Reiterated by HC Wainwright

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

Several other brokerages also recently commented on ESPR. Bank of America downgraded shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $2.90 to $2.50 in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. 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 note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.17.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ESPR opened at $1.96 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.19. Esperion Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.70 and a 52-week high of $3.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $371.34 million, a PE ratio of -1.98 and a beta of 1.00.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $73.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.90 million. Equities analysts forecast that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ESPR. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 105.9% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 77,049 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 39,635 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Esperion Therapeutics by 104.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 35,254 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 18,036 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Esperion Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $159,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $148,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 94.2% in the second 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 during the period. 47.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.