Brokerages Set Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) PT at $7.00

Key Points

• Esperion Therapeutics has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from five analysts, with one hold rating and four buy ratings.
• The average 12-month price target among analysts for the company's stock is $7.00, while HC Wainwright has a higher target of $16.00.
• Esperion reported a quarterly earnings miss with an EPS of ( $0.21), compared to the estimated EPS of ( $0.18), and reported revenues of $65 million which exceeded expectations.

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the five analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $7.00.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ESPR shares. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Esperion Therapeutics from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Esperion Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th.

Esperion Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of ESPR stock traded down $0.02 on Thursday, hitting $1.40. The stock had a trading volume of 2,627,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,950,159. The firm has a market capitalization of $277.48 million, a P/E ratio of -1.75 and a beta of 0.82. Esperion Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.69 and a 1 year high of $3.94. The company's 50 day moving average price is $1.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.33.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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. Esperion Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 59.03% and a negative return on equity of 0.91%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.29 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Esperion Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESPR. Summit Financial LLC lifted its position in Esperion Therapeutics by 18.2% during 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 period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Esperion Therapeutics by 33.2% during 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 period. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Esperion Therapeutics by 29.5% during the 2nd quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 45,306 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 10,309 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Esperion Therapeutics by 15.5% during 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 period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in Esperion Therapeutics by 0.4% during 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 period. 47.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.