Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on ESPR. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Esperion Therapeutics from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.17.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Down 5.8 %

Shares of ESPR opened at $2.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $413.78 million, a P/E ratio of -3.28 and a beta of 0.96. Esperion Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $1.04 and a twelve month high of $3.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1.95 and a 200 day moving average of $2.14.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $73.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.90 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.25 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in Esperion Therapeutics by 38.4% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 23,346,013 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $38,521,000 after acquiring an additional 6,483,070 shares during the period. Bellevue Group AG boosted its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 136.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 9,944,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,650,000 after buying an additional 5,739,800 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 71.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,826,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,655,000 after purchasing an additional 3,688,796 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 94.2% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 3,278.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 572,323 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,271,000 after purchasing an additional 555,382 shares during the period. 47.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.