Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

ESPR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $2.90 to $2.50 in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Esperion Therapeutics from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.17.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Performance

ESPR stock opened at $1.68 on Friday. Esperion Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.70 and a fifty-two week high of $3.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.20. The company has a market cap of $318.29 million, a P/E ratio of -1.70 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESPR. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Esperion Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $77,000. Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,568,000. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Esperion Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $66,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in Esperion Therapeutics by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 1,128,149 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,373,000 after purchasing an additional 11,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Esperion Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $58,000. 47.39% of the stock is currently 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.