Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Esperion Therapeutics Call Options (NASDAQ:ESPR)

Key Points

• Esperion Therapeutics saw an unusual increase in options trading, with investors purchasing 2,040 call options—up 25% from the average volume.
• Institutional investors now own 47.39% of Esperion Therapeutics, with notable recent stakes from several hedge funds.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on the stock, with a consensus price target of $7.00 and some downgrades following recent earnings reports.

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 2,040 call options on the company. Thisrepresentsanincreaseof25% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,634 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on ESPR. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $7.00.

Institutional Trading of Esperion Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 97,833 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 13,101 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $98,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 359,235 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $791,000 after buying an additional 49,564 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 65.7% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 117,732 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 46,682 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 123,896 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 16,404 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.39% of the company's stock.

Esperion Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of ESPR stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $2.68. The stock had a trading volume of 10,767,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,225,271. Esperion Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $0.69 and a twelve month high of $3.94. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $540.35 million, a PE ratio of -5.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 56.83 and a beta of 0.89.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.15. Esperion Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 35.84% and a negative return on equity of 0.91%. The business had revenue of $82.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.55 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.29 earnings per share for the current year.

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.