Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $5.54.

ESPR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. HC Wainwright lowered shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $3.16 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st.

Insider Transactions at Esperion Therapeutics

In other Esperion Therapeutics news, CFO Benjamin Halladay sold 10,773 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.15, for a total transaction of $33,934.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 702,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,213,911.35. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Benjamin Looker sold 11,824 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.15, for a total transaction of $37,245.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 667,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,102,700.60. This represents a 1.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Esperion Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 66.9% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 15,768,897 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $43,207,000 after buying an additional 6,323,138 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,945,454 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $55,298,000 after buying an additional 2,853,005 shares in the last quarter. Two Seas Capital LP lifted its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 11,902,521 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $44,039,000 after buying an additional 2,152,797 shares in the last quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 77.2% during the first quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 10,570,300 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $28,963,000 after buying an additional 4,604,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,930,296 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $21,942,000 after buying an additional 1,451,462 shares in the last quarter. 47.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ESPR opened at $3.15 on Friday. Esperion Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $0.95 and a twelve month high of $4.18. The company has a market capitalization of $811.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.50 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $2.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.12.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $80.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.52 million. Esperion Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 0.14% and a net margin of 0.12%.

Esperion Therapeutics Company Profile

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of oral, low–density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)–lowering therapies. The company’s research and development efforts center on small-molecule compounds designed to address atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease by targeting cholesterol biosynthesis pathways. Esperion seeks to provide novel treatment options for patients who require additional LDL-C reduction beyond what is achieved with statins or who are statin-intolerant.

The company’s lead products include NEXLETOL (bempedoic acid), an oral adenosine triphosphate–citrate lyase (ACL) inhibitor approved by the U.S.