HC Wainwright Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR)

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $16.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $4.00 price target for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $8.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.25.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Performance

ESPR stock opened at $2.10 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $2.46 and its 200 day moving average is $2.17. The firm has a market cap of $413.77 million, a PE ratio of -3.28 and a beta of 1.03. Esperion Therapeutics has a one year low of $1.58 and a one year high of $3.94.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $51.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.37) EPS. Research analysts predict that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Esperion Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 6,560.6% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 252,038 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 248,254 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Esperion Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Xponance Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 94.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,303,596 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,554,000 after acquiring an additional 2,087,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $148,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.39% of the company’s stock.

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.