Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $6.25.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ESPR shares. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Esperion Therapeutics from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Esperion Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $4.00 price objective (down from $7.00) on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th.

Institutional Trading of Esperion Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Summit Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 46,528 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 7,150 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 48.6% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,172 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 9,872 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 33.2% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 40,106 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 97,833 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 13,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake 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 during the last quarter. 47.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Esperion Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of ESPR stock opened at $0.80 on Friday. Esperion Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.69 and a 1-year high of $3.94. The company has a market cap of $158.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.25 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.84.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $65.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $54.97 million. Analysts anticipate that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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